Forbes Book of Great Business Letters Memos, Missives, Pitches, Proposals and E-Mails

by Bruun, Erik

• ISBN13: 9781579121709
• ISBN10: 1579121705
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-06-01
• Publisher: Black Dog & Leventhal

Summary

This unique collection presents the sharpest business acumen from the biggest names in commerce through their own personal and professional correspondence. Categories include Deal Proposals (Michelangelo pitches the Sistine Chapel to the Pope), Work & Ethics (John Adams to Abigail Adams on self-improvement), Complaints & Compliments (Clyde Barrow commends Henry Ford on the reliability of his cars-for quick getaways), New Ideas (Hugh Hefner approaches readers with a "brand new magazine for men"), Advice (Benjamin Franklin's advice to a young tradesman), Business & Legal Rights (Microsoft's e-mails about the threat of Netscape) and many more.THE FORBES BOOK OF BUSINESS LETTERS is inspirational and informative and the perfect addition to the library of every business man.

Author Biography

Erik Bruun has been a reporter, editor, and freelance writer for more than twenty years. His books include Our Nation's Archive and American Values and Virtues. In his home community, he has taken a leadership role in several organizations that advocate for social change. He has three children.

Table of Contents

Preface	xv
ADVICE
Benjamin Franklin's Advice to a Young Tradesman, Written by an Old One	3	(2)
Benjamin Franklin on Writing a Good Letter	5	(2)
Benjamin Franklin to Dr. Price	7	(1)
Earl of Chesterfield to His Son	8	(3)
Earl of Chesterfield to His Son	11	(3)
George Washington to His Nephew Bushrod Washington	14	(1)
Dr. Benjamin Rush to William Claypoole	15	(1)
Benjamin and Julia Rush to Son John Rush	16	(2)
Daniel Webster to Daniel Fletcher Webster	18	(1)
Alfred Krupp to Employees	19	(1)
Charles William Eliot to His Son	20	(1)
Louis D. Brandeis to William Harrison Dunbar	21	(2)
Sherwood Anderson to His Sons	23	(2)
P.T. Barnum to James A. Bailey	25	(2)
Ed Turner to Ted Turner	27	(2)
David Ogilvy to His Nephew	29	(4)
BEASTS OF BURDEN
Women of the Third Estate to Louis XVI	33	(1)
Sukey and Ersey to Master Beverley Tucker	34	(1)
P.T. Barnum to Moses S. Beach	35	(1)
Aflred Krupp to the Men of the Crucible-Steel Works	36	(2)
James Cardinal Gibbons to Cardinal Simeoni	38	(5)
Eugene V. Debs to Frank X. Holl	43	(2)
George F. Baer to William F. Clark	45	(1)
A Reader to Jewish Daily Forward Editor	46	(2)
Cesar Chavez to E.L. Barr, Jr.	48	(4)
Curt Flood to Bowie Kuhn	52	(3)
BUSINESS AND GOVERNMENT
Edward I to the Sheriff of Northamptonshire	55	(1)
Sire Piers Dutton to Sir Thomas Audeley and George, Earl of Shrewsbury, to John Scudamore	56	(2)
Jean Baptiste Colbert to Louis XIV	58	(2)
Anthony Henley to Constituents	60	(1)
Earl of Chesterfield on Buying a Seat in Parliament	61	(2)
Joe Kennedy to John F. Kennedy	63	(1)
London Merchants to British Parliament	64	(2)
Edward Carrington to Alexander Hamilton	66	(3)
Letters to Treasury Secretary Albert Gallatin on Abolishing the U.S. Mint	69	(5)
W. Harrison to Thadeus Stevens	74	(2)
K. Takahira to Elihu Root	76	(2)
Huey P. Long to Charles Stair	78	(1)
John Maynard Keynes to Franklin D. Roosevelt	79	(9)
David Sarnoff to Franklin D. Roosevelt	88	(3)
Colonel Georg Thomas to Adolf Hitler	91	(3)
Taxpayers to the Internal Revenue Service	94	(3)
John Kenneth Galbraith to John F. Kennedy	97	(2)
J. B. Lee, Jr., to Congressman Ed Foreman	99	(2)
John Wayne to President Lyndon B. Johnson	101	(3)
Lee Iacocca to National Association of Manufacturers	104	(5)
THE COMPETITIVE EDGE
Dutch West Indian Company to Dutch Government	109	(2)
Conrelius Vanderbilt to His Former Partners	111	(1)
George May to Joseph Curtiss	112	(1)
Letters to John D. Rockefeller on Cut-Throat Tactics	113	(2)
P.T. Barnum to James A. Bailey	115	(2)
P.D. Armour to Sons Ogden and Phil Armour	117	(2)
Anglo-Persian Oil Company Competes for Oil in Persian Gulf	119	(2)
Alfred P. Sloan, Jr., to General Motors Executives	121	(4)
William Randolph Hearst to His Editors	125	(2)
Thomas J. Watson, Jr., to IBM Research Department	127	(1)
Ray Kroc to McDonald's Operators	128	(2)
David Ogilvy to Ogilvy & Mather Board of Directors	130	(1)
Roger Enrico to Pepsi Personnel	131	(1)
Richard Branson and Lord King Correspondence	132	(2)
Herb Kelleher to Southwest Airlines Employees	134	(1)
Jack Welch to Shareholders, Customers and Employees	135	(9)
Tom Paquin to Netscape Engineers	144	(3)
COMPLIMENTS AND COMPLAINTS
Compliments
Mark Twain to New York Western Union President	147	(3)
David Hume to Adam Smith	150	(1)
Clyde Barrow to Henry Ford	151	(1)
Pasco Kiwanis Club to DuPont Company	152	(2)
David Ogilvy's Observations on Talent	154	(2)
Coca-Cola customers to Coca Cola	156	(2)
Southwest Airlines Customers to Herb Kelleher	158	(2)
Complaints
John Shubert to Southwest Airlines Employees	160	(2)
Charles Dickens to Clockmaker	162	(1)
Mark Twain to Hartford Gas Company	163	(1)
Dissatisfied Customer to French Typewriter Shop	164	(1)
Unhappy Opera Fan to Verdi	165	(2)
Taxpayers to Internal Revenue Service	167	(1)
Norman Rockwell to Personal Secretary	168	(1)
``Lazlo Toth'' to Gold Seal Co.	169	(4)
DEALS
Proposals
Dionysarion to Protarchus	173	(1)
Jeanne Becu (Du Barry) to M. Dival an Admirer	174	(1)
Thomas Jefferson to Samuel H. Smith	175	(2)
Edward Drake to James M. Townsend	177	(2)
Jacob W. Davis to Levi Strauss	179	(1)
P.T. Barnum to Ulysses S. Grant	180	(2)
Deal Negotiations
Margery Brews to John Poston	182	(1)
Michelangelo to the Architect to the Pope	183	(2)
William Blake to George Cumberland	185	(2)
Alfred Krupp to German War Minister	187	(3)
Jacob H. Schiff on the Buyer of The New York Times	190	(1)
R.R. Lingeman to Monocle Periodicals	191	(1)
William Randolph Hearst to Whitelaw Reid	192	(1)
George S. Kaufman to Paramount Pictures	193	(1)
George S. Kaufman to Agustus and Ruth Goetz	194	(1)
Frank Lolyd Wright and Edgar J. Kaufmann	195	(5)
Helene Hanff to Marks & Company	200	(5)
Feuding Correspondence over RJR Nabisco	205	(4)
Sealed Deals
Ludwing van Beethoven to Charles Neate	209	(1)
Andrew Carnegie to Henry Phipps, Jr.	210	(1)
Anglo-Persian Oil Company to His Excellency Shiakh Sir Ahmad Al Jabir	211	(2)
Walter Wanger to Leland Hayward	213	(1)
Chinese Publisher's Rejection Letter	214	(3)
EMPLOYMENT
Getting a Job
Leonardo da Vinci Seeks Job from the Duke of Milan	217	(2)
James Burbage to the Earl of Leicester	219	(2)
Benjamin Franklin Model Letter of Recommendation	221	(1)
Samuel Slater to Moses Brown	222	(1)
Franz Schubert to Francis II	223	(2)
Letter of Recommendation for Albert Einstein	225	(1)
Dorothy Thompson to an Admirer of Her Husband	226	(1)
Jim Clark to Marc Andereessen	227	(1)
Career Choices
David Garrick to Peter Garrick	228	(1)
John Keats to Sister Fanny	229	(2)
William Randolph Hearst to His Father	231	(3)
Louisa May Alcott to Her Family	234	(2)
James Russell Lowell to W. D. Howells	236	(2)
Elinore Rupert Stewart to Mrs. Coney	238	(2)
Management
Elizabeth I to Richard Cox, Bishop of Ely	240	(1)
The Russian American Company to Aleksandr Andreevich Baranov	241	(1)
Abraham Lincoln to ``Fighting Joe'' Hooker	242	(2)
Buffalo Bill on Star Cowboys	244	(2)
Andrew Carnegie, J. P. Morgan & Charles M. Schwab Gambling Controversy	246	(2)
John D. Rockefeller, Jr. to John D. Rockefeller, Sr.	248	(1)
E. B. White to Harold Ross	249	(1)
Eddie Cantor and Florenz Ziegfeld	250	(2)
Employment
German Prince to Hessian General	252	(2)
Robert Benchley to Art Samuels	254	(4)
Bernard Miles to Kirsten Flagstad	258	(2)
Raymond Chandler to Alfred Hitchock	260	(1)
Thomas J. Watson, Jr. to Thomas J. Watson	261	(2)
Francis Fox to the Manager of the Beatles	263	(2)
David Ogilvy to ``Syndicate Heads''	265	(2)
Cargill CEOs to Cargill Employees	267	(3)
Al Neuharth to Gannett Publishers	270	(2)
Departing Work
Vicar of Baulking Dismisses Penelope Betjeman	272	(1)
Michel Saint-Denis to London Theatre Studio	273	(1)
Jack Welch to Laid Off Employee's Wife	274	(3)
Steve Jobs to A. C. ``Mike'' Markkula	277	(2)
Gilbert F. Amelio to Apple Employees	279	(4)
FINANCE
George Washington to Alexander Hamilton	283	(1)
Nicholas Biddle to John White	284	(3)
Levi Woodbury to Deposit Banks	287	(2)
Salmon P. Chase to Horace Greeley	289	(3)
Grover Cleveland to E. Ellery Anderson	292	(1)
J.P. Morgan Prevents Financial Disaster	293	(1)
Henry P. Davision to Thomas Lamont	294	(1)
Bernard Baruch to Senator William H. King	295	(1)
Earnest Elmo Calkins to The New York Times	296	(2)
John Kenneth Galbraith to John F. Kennedy	298	(2)
E.B. White to Consolidated Edison Company	300	(1)
Groucho Marx to Franklin Corporation	301	(1)
Alan Greenspan to Federal Home Loan Bank	302	(3)
Anonymous to Merrill Lynch	305	(1)
John W. Meriwether to Investors	306	(3)
Warren E. Buffett to Berkshire Hathway Shareholders	309	(8)
MARKETING
P.T. Barnum to Moses Kimball	317	(2)
Kentucky Distillers to Alcoholics' Sanatorium	319	(1)
Sturgis Dorrance to Congress	320	(3)
United Artists Publicity Stunt	323	(1)
Alfred P. Solan, Jr. to H. H. Bassett	324	(1)
Marianne Moore to and from the Ford Motor Company	325	(3)
Norman Rockwell Endorses Paint-Brushes	328	(3)
J.F. Hind to C.A. Tucker	331	(1)
E.B. White to Xerox Corporation	332	(4)
David Ogilvy to Oglivy & Mather	336	(2)
Al Neuharth to Advertising and Circulation Managers	338	(1)
Nigel Carroll to eBay Customers	339	(2)
A Message From Warren E. Buffett	341	(2)
Amazon.com to New Customers	343	(4)
THE MONEY CHASE
Richard Quincy to William Shakespeare	347	(1)
Daniel Defore to Robert Harley	348	(2)
Thomas Jefferson Restructures His Debts	350	(2)
George Colman Needs to Borrow Money	352	(2)
Sir Walter Scott to John Gibson Lockhart	354	(3)
Ann Matilda King to Trustee	357	(2)
Abraham Lincoln to His Father and Brother	359	(2)
Nathaniel Hawthorne to G.S. Hillard	361	(1)
R.D. Leonard to A. Pierpont	362	(2)
Richard Wagner to Von Hornstein	364	(2)
Robert Louis Stevension to His Father	366	(1)
Charlotte Hawkins Brown to Mrs. Galen Stone	367	(2)
L. Q. White and Federal Reserve Correspondence	369	(3)
Calvin Coolinge to Los Angeles Evening Harald	372	(1)
A.G. to Federal Emergency Relief Administration	373	(2)
Frank Lolyd Wright to John Nesbitt	375	(3)
Al Hirschfield to Lester Markel	378	(1)
Warren E. Buffett to Katharine Graham	379	(4)
NEW FRONTIERS
Christopher Columbus to Ferdinand and Isabella	383	(5)
Henry VII to John Cabot	388	(2)
Fugger Correspondent to Signor Adelgais	390	(2)
Jan van Ryen to the Dutch West India Company	392	(2)
Ch'ien Lung to George III	394	(2)
Thomas Jefferson to Merryweather Lewis	396	(2)
Moses Austin to J.E. B. Austin	398	(1)
Stephen F. Austin to James F. Perry	399	(3)
Letters of the California Gold Rush	402	(6)
James M. Townsend to Captain Charles Hervey Townsend	408	(1)
Sir Arnold Wilson to British Foreign Office	409	(1)
Jef Raskin to Steve Jobs	410	(1)
Eric Greenberg to Scient Employees	411	(4)
NEW IDEAS
William Fichet on the Gutenberg Printing Press	415	(1)
Martin Van Buren to Andrew Jackson	416	(2)
The New-York Daily Times to Subscribers	418	(2)
Mark Twain to W. D. Howells	420	(3)
Louis Pasteur to His Children	423	(2)
Thomas Alva Edison to J. Wood Wright	425	(2)
Orville Wright to His Father	427	(1)
Clarke Sales Company to James Joyce	428	(2)
David Sarnoff on the Future of Radio and Television	430	(8)
State Farm Mutual Auto Insurance to Policyholders	438	(1)
Michael J. Cullen to President of Kroger	439	(4)
John Barinerd to Harold Pender	443	(3)
Levitt and Sons to Potential Buyer	446	(2)
Hugh Hefner to Newsstand Vendors	448	(1)
Bill Gates and Jeff Raikes to John Sculley and Jean-Louis Gassee	449	(4)
eBay to eBay Customers	453	(6)
RIGHTS
Houdini Claims Water Torture Cell as His Own	459	(1)
David O. Selznick to William Hays	460	(2)
Groucho Marx to the Warner Brothers	462	(4)
Evelyn Waught to Life Magazine	466	(1)
Bill Gates to Computer Hobbyists	467	(2)
Carl Sagan to MacWEEK	469	(1)
Jim Clark to Chancellor Michale Aiken	470	(5)
WORK AND BUSINESS ETHICS
John Adams to Abigail Adams	475	(2)
Leopold Mozart to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart	477	(3)
Sir Walter Scott to Charles Scott	480	(2)
Andrew Carnegie to Himself	482	(1)
Charles Dickens to His Youngest Child	483	(2)
Louisa May Alcott to an Unidentified Friend	485	(2)
A Reader to a Jewish Daily Forward Editor	487	(2)
John D. Rockefeller, Jr. to John D. Rockefeller, Sr.	489	(8)
Thomas Edison to William Feather	497	(1)
George Bernard Shaw to Biographer Archibald Henderson	498	(1)
H.L. Mencken to Will Durant	499	(2)
John Steinbeck to Elizabeth Otis	501	(2)
Mrs. John D. Rockefeller to Her Sons	503	(1)
Norman Rockwell to Harry W. Brooks	504	(1)
David Ogilvy to Ray Calt	505	(2)
Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Value-Based Business Views	507	(2)
Permissions Acknowledgements	509	(4)
Index	513