Where did the idea of Valentine's Day cards come from?

According to Robert McNamara, writing of special notes and letters for Valentine’s Day gained widespread popularity in the late 1700s. At that time the romantic missives would have been handwritten, on ordinary writing paper.

Papers made especially for Valentine greetings began to be marketed in the Regency era,  1820s, and their use became fashionable in both Britain and the United States. In the 1840s, when postal rates in Britain became standardized, commercially produced Valentine cards began to grow in popularity. The cards were flat paper sheets, often printed with colored illustrations and embossed borders. The sheets, when folded and sealed with wax, could be mailed.

I really love the idea that romance was truly alive in the Regency period where rakehells abounded (well, in my stories they do).  So I thought I'd let Harlow Telford, the Duke of Dangerfield, share a Valentine's Day missive he wrote especially for my heroine, Lady Caitlin Southall.

"You are beautiful beyond words. Your spirit is beyond definition and your goodness beyond my humble ability to express. I love you for all that you are, all that you will be, and all that you give of yourself to me every day.
I love you with all that I am, all that I will ever be, and  I will strive to give you all of myself until my last breath in this world, and then on into the next.
I love you my darling.
Happy Valentine’s Day.
Yours forever, Dangerfield."

To learn how these two lovers came to their happy ever after, read To Dare the Duke of Dangerfield. Alternatively, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and in exchange for a review on amazon, I'' give you a FREE copy. Open until February 14th 2012.

 "To write a good love letter, you ought to begin without knowing what you mean to say and to finish without knowing what you have written."

-Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Do you have a favorite love letter? If so, who wrote it and who was it for?