Covers like the one Blair pointed us to, at
http://www.la-posta.com/SubAuc76-PIP...Ad%20Cover.jpg,
are representative of illustrated mail. Section Nine of the VANPEX
2009 exhibition is reserved for illustrated mail; this is the first
year we have included this section, which is described in the APS'
fifth edition of the Manual of Philatelic Judging.

Corner cards are envelopes with printed return address information on
them, in the upper left corner. I assume that the term came from the
fact that the information is similar to that found on a simple
business card. Corner cards are highly collectible. A friend of mine
collects postal history related to small-town newspapers and mining in
British Columbia. Many of his covers, some of them incredibly rare and
very expensive, are corner cards.

Corner cards obviously morph into illustrated mail when typographers
and artists and engravers decide to get fancy. Deciding if a cover
represents illustrated mail or is "just" a corner card is subjective,
like so much of philately.

Bob