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Synopsis
Letterboxing is an intriguing mix of hiking, puzzle solving, treasure hunting and rubber stamp artistry, topped off with the thrill of discovery. The basic idea is simple. Clues, usually posted on a website, will lead the person who correctly follows them to the secret location of a "letterbox". The letterbox contains a unique rubber stamp and a logbook. The searcher carries a personal rubber stamp and logbook. When the letterbox is found, its finder stamps the box's logbook with his or her personal stamp, and stamps the personal logbook with the stamp in the letterbox. The letterbox is then secreted away again. There is something for everyone in this quaint, Old World pastime. Artists and writers enjoy the opportunity to express themselves in their stamps and clues, while hikers and outdoor adventurers have found this an excellent way to share their special places with others. "The Letterboxer's Companion" is a complete introduction to letterboxing.It includes a history of letterboxing, instructions on making personal stamps and letterboxes, letterboxing etiquette and conventions, basic land navigation techniques, writing and following clues - everything the aspiring letterboxer needs to get started in this fascinating, family-friendly pastime. Legend has it that letterboxing was born in 1854 when a gentleman, while walking the moors of Dartmoor, placed his calling card in a jar by the remote Cranmere Pool. He is said to have left a note that anyone who found his card should do likewise. Word spread of this secret on the moors, and soon other "letterboxes" began showing up in Dartmoor. Stamps eventually replaced the cards, and clues were written up and passed around by word of mouth.
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Legend has it that letterboxing was born in 1854, when a gentleman, while walking the moors of Dartmoor, Devon, England, placed his calling card in a jar by the remote Cranmere Pool. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Legend has it that letterboxing was born in 1854, when a gentleman, while walking the moors of Dartmoor, Devon, England, placed his calling card in a jar by the remote Cranmere Pool. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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9 reviews
44 of 44 people found the following review helpful
Who'd'a thunk?? There's treasure in them thar hills ...
14 Mar 2004
Format:Hardcover
Well shut my mouth. Here's an application for physically active rubber stampers that was completely unknown to me until I picked up this book on a library display shelf. Letterboxing is in the same family of hobbies as geocaching, where enthusiasts use their GPS (global positioning systems) to track down treasures hidden by other enthusiasts somewhere in the countryside. Letterboxing is geocaching's Luddite cousin, as all you need is the clues and a compass. You might go to a letterboxing website, find out about letterboxes hidden in your area, read the clues, and take off on an entertaining day hike with a "pot of gold" at the end. When you find the treasure, which can consist of a logbook and a rubber stamp in a small Tupperware container "under the rock at the end of the fence," for example, you stamp your own signature stamp in the letterbox's logbook, stamp the letterbox's rubber stamp into your own logbook, then replace everything exactly for the next treasure seeker.
The author has done a great job of introducing this fast-growing sport, which is new to the U.S. in the past decade or so. The instructions on using a compass and triangulating kind of threw me, so if I go off on a letterboxing hike, I'll need someone who knows how to use a compass to go with me and explain it.
But otherwise, the book is a quick read, tells how to get started, how to carve your signature stamp, letterboxing etiquette, and answers frequently asked questions while assiduously avoiding spoilers or giving away too much. There's plenty here, including web resources, to arouse curiosity and interest in the activity, one about which I myself knew absolutely nothing before picking up this charming book. Really a good job for the first U.S. book on the subject.
26 of 28 people found the following review helpful
Excellent introduction!!!
13 Mar 2004
Format:Hardcover
Randy (aka Mapsurfer) did a wonderful job on this synopsis of letterboxing. This (hobby, sport, past-time) has exploded in the past 6 years across america. Living in Connecticut and being active letterboxers it was exciting to see this topic finally come to print. If you are at all interested in a fun new way to enjoy a hike, or treasure hunt, but this book! We found the images particularly fun...some of the stamps used as examples in this book we have collected in our travels.
-Steve, Heidi, and Madras
Groton, CT
17 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Run, don't walk to buy this book!
8 July 2004
Format:Hardcover
My local librarian ordered this book and suggested it to me. Having never heard of letterboxing I was instantly hooked. The book is well written, comprehensive, and inspiring. My life as I knew it is over.
I have bought a number of copies to give away to friends and family as I know that they will become hooked too, so that way we can still do something together, hunting for letterboxes!
For more info you can check out www.letterboxing.org and they tell you all about it too, but the book is just really special.
I have bought a number of copies to give away to friends and family as I know that they will become hooked too, so that way we can still do something together, hunting for letterboxes!
For more info you can check out www.letterboxing.org and they tell you all about it too, but the book is just really special.
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