How do I cite a letter in MLA?

To cite a letter in MLA (9th edition), include the author, title, date, and source location. Use our free citation generator for automatic formatting.

What does the in-text citation look like for a letter in MLA?

In MLA, the in-text citation for the example above is (Adams 370)

How to Cite a Letter in MLA (9th edition)

Learn how to cite published letters, letters in archives, and open letters in MLA format (9th edition). This guide includes the reference list format, in-text citation examples, and key formatting rules.

MLA Works Cited Format

Here is the standard MLA format for citing a letter in your Works Cited page:

Writer Last Name, First Name. Letter to Recipient Name. Day Month Year. Title of Collection, edited by Editor Name, vol. #, Publisher, Year, pp. xx–xx.

MLA Example for a Letter

A complete MLA reference for a letter, written by hand and checked against the official MLA guidance for this source:

Adams, Abigail. Letter to John Adams. 31 Mar. 1776. Adams Family Correspondence, edited by L. H. Butterfield, vol. 1, Belknap Press of Harvard UP, 1963, pp. 369–71.

Matching in-text citation: (Adams 370)

MLA In-Text Citation

Use one of these formats when referencing this source within your paper:

Parenthetical

(Adams 370)

Narrative

Abigail Adams asked her husband to “Remember the Ladies” (370).

Key MLA Formatting Rules

Describe the letter in the title slot as Letter to Recipient, without quotation marks or italics, unless the letter has a real title.
Give the date the letter was written after the description, then the collection in italics as the container, with its editor, volume, publisher, year and page range.
For a letter in an archive, end with the collection name, the archive and its city; for one in a personal collection, write Personal collection of Name, as the Style Center does.
A letter written to you is cited as Letter to the author, with its date.

Step-by-Step Guide

Gather source information: Collect the author name, title, publication date, and URL or DOI for your letter.
Format the reference: Arrange the elements following the MLA (9th edition) template shown above.
Create the in-text citation: Add a parenthetical or narrative citation in your paper where you reference this source.
Add to your Works Cited: Include the full formatted citation at the end of your paper.
Double-check formatting: Verify italics, punctuation, capitalization, and hanging indents match MLA requirements.

Evidence and review notes

Worked examples on this page are written by hand from the style's own published guidance and checked against it, because the general CSL styles do not encode this source's rules. Editorial guidance and sources in this section were reviewed on 2026-08-14.

Metadata to collect

writer and recipient
date the letter was written
collection title, editor, publisher, year and pages, if published
collection name, box or folder, and repository, if archival
URL of a digitized copy, if you used one

Common metadata traps

A private letter sent to you that no reader can consult is a personal communication; cite it the way the email page shows, not with the formats below.
In a published collection the editor’s heading is not the letter’s title; describe the letter by writer, recipient and date.
An open letter printed in a newspaper or posted online is cited as that article or web page, with the publication that carried it.

Editorial sources

MLA Style Center — works cited →

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I cite a letter in MLA?: To cite a letter in MLA (9th edition), include the author, title, date, and source location. Use our free citation generator for automatic formatting.
What is the MLA format for a letter citation?: The MLA format for a letter is: Writer Last Name, First Name. Letter to Recipient Name. Day Month Year. Title of Collection, edited by Editor Name, vol. #, Publisher, Year, pp. xx–xx.
What does the in-text citation look like for a letter in MLA?: In MLA, the in-text citation for the example above is (Adams 370)