施士洁(1853-1922)，原名應嘉，字澐舫，號芸況、喆園，晚號耐公，臺灣縣(今臺南)人，1876年進士。其父施瓊芳(1815-1868)亦為進士，為臺灣科舉史上唯一的進士父子。1895年，因政局劇變而舉家遷返原籍福建晉江西岑，本信即作於移居之後，展現兩岸文人猶維持詩詞唱和的情況。信中詩句追憶櫟社雅集，感懷青春不再，並寄託遺民之思。末署「鯤島棄民」，直抒乙未變局後流離的無奈與悲懷。

Shi Shi-jie(1853-1922), originally named Ying-jia, courtesy name Yun-fang, and style name Yun-kuang, Zhe-yuan, and Nai-gong, was a native of Taiwan County (present-day Tainan). He passed the Jinshi examination in 1876. His father, Shi Qiong-feng(1815-1868), was also a Jinshi, making them the only father–son pair in Taiwan’s history to both attain this highest degree in the imperial examination system.

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The displayed letters are poetic exchanges between Shi and his friends. After the 1895 cession of Taiwan to Japan, Shi's family moved to their ancestral home in Jinjiang, Fujian, while Shi frequently traveled between Xiamen and Fujian. The letters show Shi's relocation, requiring multiple transfers to reach his friends. His inscription, "Exiled Resident of Kun Dao(Taiwan), Shi Shijie," reflects the scholar's bitterness and helplessness amid the era's upheavals.