Dear readers,
This year marks the 250th anniversary of American independence! To celebrate, we’re launching a special, limited-run Federalist Papers series.
The eighty-five essays of the Federalist Papers are (at least in our view) the greatest guide to the Constitution and American government ever written.
They’re also the most famous series of open letters ever written. First published in the Independent Journal, the New-York Packet, and other popular newspapers in 1787, the Federalist Papers were written as persuasive letters from “Publius” (a joint pseudonym for Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison) to the newspaper-reading public.
Two centuries later, the Federalist Papers endure in classrooms, but most of the context in which they first appeared has been lost.
The Federalist Papers were made to be read on newsprint, over a period of months, not all together in a textbook or on a screen.
Today, for the first time in two centuries, we're excited to announce that you can finally experience the Federalist Papers serialized in their original format once again.
We've spent months carefully studying and replicating the masthead, typography, and design language of the newspapers that first published these essays.
The culmination of this work is our new limited-run Federalist Papers series.
Each week, readers of this series will receive an envelope in the mail. Inside, they’ll find a Federalist Papers essay on 1780s-inspired newsprint.
Over the course of eighty-five weeks, readers of this series will have the chance to experience every essay in this unique form. They'll learn the "why" behind our three-branch system, bicameral legislature, the Electoral College, and more.
We’ll mail Federalist 1-4 in April, and continue to mail one essay per week until all eighty-five are mailed. We do not plan to repeat mailings, so if you want to receive all eighty-five, we recommend signing up before April 1.
For launch week, we're running a special promotion for friends of Letterjoy. Use code “PUBLIUS15” for 15% off your order of a Federalist Papers package.
This promotion is valid through March 20th at midnight.
Here's to a fun and history-filled 2026. We have an exciting roadmap of letters ahead, and we look forward to sharing more of them with you soon!
Sincerely yours,
Michael & the Letterjoy Team
P.S. Did you know that a 250th anniversary is called a “Semiquincentennial”? For those of you who do crossword puzzles, I have a feeling that this word will come in handy over the next twelve months.