Our principal, Nancy Sharon Collins, is the country’s leading expert on engraved social stationery. She oversees the creation of bespoke monograms, ciphers, engraved writing papers, note cards, and ephemera. Collins authored The Complete Engraver a guide to monograms, crests, ciphers, seals, and the etiquette and history of social stationery. She has contributed to and been the subject of widespread media such as Town & Country, Veranda, Vogue, The New York Times, and PRINT. Also, listen to the NPR interview with Mrs. Collins here.
As the proprietress of her eponymous firm, she always makes time for lectures and presentations nationally. Most notably, she gave a talk about monograms to a highly engaged audience at Type Directors Club (TDC now ) in New York City and to AIGA conference attendees in New Orleans. (By the way, Collins has been an active member of TDC for just shy of two decades.)
Additionally, Collins produces Letters Read, the series of live and podcast performances about history inspired by letters written by a fascinating variety of individuals. The productions are primarily focused on the history of New Orleans, the American South, Louisiana, and recently New York City. Mrs. Collins has partnered on the project with The Historic New Orleans Collection, Loyola University New Orleans, the Louisiana State Museum, Alliance Française de La Nouvelle-Orléans, and Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
