Not all the great men in this collection wrote great love letters, although undoubtedly, some of the passion must have been lost in translation and/or lack of context. My favourite has got to be Daniel Webster's simple yet affectionate letter to a young woman who had left her bonnet at his house: "I gave it my parting good wishes; hoping that it might never cover an aching head, and that the eyes which it protects from the rays of the sun, may know no tears but those of joy and affection."

Cynical as some of us like to claim we are, perhaps there's always a little part of us that yearns for old-fashioned romance.