How to cite a letter, memo, e-mail or press release

Bluebook (22d ed.) citation format, B17 / R17.2.3–17.2.4.

Bluebook (22d ed.) citation format for a letter, memo, e-mail or press release, governed by B17 / R17.2.3–17.2.4. Worked example, required elements, and the rules that apply.

Example

Memorandum from President Franklin Roosevelt to Att’y Gen. Robert H. Jackson (July 1, 1939) (on file with the Harvard Law School Library).

Governing rules

B17 / R17.2.3–17.2.4

• 17 — unpublished & forthcoming sources (ordinary roman type).
• 17.2 — unpublished materials.
• 17.2.3 — letters, memoranda & press releases.

Required elements

• Date

Optional elements

• Kind
• Writer — Required for everything but a press release.
• Addressee
• Issuing body (press release)
• Title (press release)
• Pincite
• Where it can be found
• URL

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