Sent from Paris just after Halloween, Parrish decorated this envelope with black crows festooning the capital “M” and “H”, a skeletal man’s face in a decorative surround for his stamp, and snakes threatening a bird whose top-hated head appears to have broken through the paper of the envelope. The sealed flap of paper of the envelope’s back is adorned with a drawn key and keyhole with what appears to be a mail slot underneath. To the right of the name Swarthmore College is drawn a lit candle signifying the illumination of knowledge to be found at the school.
