# Letterlocking > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Letterlocking > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Letterlocking.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letterlocking > Source revision: 1318118330 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Methods for securing a letter without an envelope}} thumb|A locked letter from 1603 '''Letterlocking''' is the act of folding and securing a written message (such as a [letter](/source/letter_(message))) on papyrus, parchment, or paper, without requiring it to be contained in an envelope or packet. It is a traditional method of [document security](/source/Information_security) that utilizes folding and cutting.{{ cite web|title=Letterlocking : Dictionary|url=http://letterlocking.org/dictionary|access-date=2021-03-15|website=Letterlocking|language=en-US}} The process dates to the 13th century in Western history, corresponding with the availability of flexible writing paper.{{ cite web |last1=Cain |first1=Abigail |title=Before Envelopes, People Protected Messages With Letterlocking |url=https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/what-did-people-do-before-envelopes-letterlocking |website=Atlas Obscura |access-date=20 March 2019 |date=2018-11-09}} Letterlocking is also a discipline focusing on "the materially engineered security and privacy of letters, both as a technology and a historically evolving tradition." == Method == Letterlocking uses small slits, tabs, and holes placed directly into a letter, which combined with folding techniques are used to secure the letter ("letterpacket"), preventing reading the letter without breaking seals or slips, providing a means of tamper resistance and [tamper evidence](/source/tamper_evidence).{{ cite web |last1=Denny |first1=Heather |title=The art and science of letterlocking |url=https://news.mit.edu/2014/art-and-science-letterlocking |website=MIT News |date=23 April 2014}} These folds and holes may be additionally secured with string and [sealing wax](/source/sealing_wax).{{ cite web |last1=Kahn |first1=Eve |title=A Trove of 'Letterlocking,' or Vintage Strategies to Deter Snoops |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/18/arts/design/a-trove-of-letterlocking-or-vintage-strategies-to-deter-snoops.html |work=The New York Times |access-date=20 March 2019 |date=2015-09-17}} == Varieties == thumb|Letterlocking categories 1–64, based on manipulations and assigned security score. A particularly intricate method known as a spiral lock was in use by people of many social backgrounds in [early modern Europe](/source/early_modern_Europe), including monarchs [Mary Queen of Scots](/source/Mary_Queen_of_Scots) and [Elizabeth I of England](/source/Elizabeth_I). The pages of a letter would be folded together to form a packet. A sliver cut from a page but remaining attached at one end would be woven multiple times, back and forth, through short slots cut into the folded pages. The paper would then be moistened so that it would swell, locking the pieces together. The loose end of the sliver would then be pasted down and possibly sealed with wax.{{ cite journal |journal=Electronic British Library Journal|last1=Dambrogio |first1=Jana |display-authors=etal|title=The Spiral-Locked Letters of Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots |year=2021 |issue=11 |doi=10.23636/qyhc-b427 |doi-access=free|issn=1478-0259 }} [Margaret Douglas, Countess of Lennox](/source/Margaret_Douglas) and her [daughter-in-law](/source/Elizabeth_Stuart%2C_Countess_of_Lennox) wrote to Mary, Queen of Scots, on 11 November 1575.William Fraser, ''The Lennox'', 2 (Edinburgh, 1874), pp. 448–449. The materiality of their letter was first described by the 19th-century historian [Agnes Strickland](/source/Agnes_Strickland), indicating the "cuttings which may be seen in the paper, just like button holes before they are worked" and the probable method of closure, "a broad tress of floss silk was then drawn through all the apertures, and knotted and sealed down. Thus no one could open the square packet without cutting the silk".Agnes Strickland, ''Lives of the Queens of Scotland: Mary Stuart'', 5 (Edinburgh: Blackwood, 1854), pp. 372–374. A Scottish diplomat in Italy, [William Keith of Delny](/source/William_Keith_of_Delny), sent letters to [James VI of Scotland](/source/James_VI_of_Scotland) in 1595 which would tear in two if not opened with care.''Letters and State Papers during the reign of James the Sixth'' (Edinburgh, 1838), pp. 15-6. In 1603 King James told the Venetian diplomat [Giovanni Carlo Scaramelli](/source/Giovanni_Carlo_Scaramelli), with a smile, that he had previously received letters from the [Doge of Venice](/source/Doge_of_Venice) which he could not open without breaking the seal. Scaramelli opened the letter for him.{{ cite book|url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-state-papers/venice/vol10/pp42-57 |editor-last=Brown|editor-first=Horatio|editor-link=Horatio Brown|title=Calendar State Papers, Venice: 1603–1607|volume=10|publication-date=1900|publication-place=London|page=43}} Intricate letterlocking works contain artistic elements, demonstrating more than a utilitarian purpose.{{ cite journal |last1=Smith |first1=Helen |title='A unique instance of art': The Proliferating Surfaces of Early Modern Paper. |journal=Journal of the Northern Renaissance |date=2017 |issue=8 |pages=2–37 |issn=1759-3085 |id=Accession 124313720}} While the use of sealing techniques may have been limited to ecclesiastic and the nobility, letterlocking was historically performed by all classes of writers.{{ cite journal|last1=Ahrendt|first1=Rebekah|last2=Van der Linden|first2=David|date=2017|title=The Postmasters' Piggy Bank: Experiencing the Accidental Archive|journal=French Historical Studies|volume=40|issue=2|pages=189–213|doi=10.1215/00161071-3761583|hdl=1874/358478|issn=0016-1071|url=https://research.rug.nl/en/publications/26e04c59-e569-41dc-baf4-62d10c74c478 |hdl-access=free}} An individual could also be recognised by their personal technique of folding, as was the case with [Jane Whorwood](/source/Jane_Whorwood), of whose letter [Charles I of England](/source/Charles_I_of_England) wrote: "This Note [...] I know, by the fowldings [...] that it is written by [Mrs Whorwood]".{{ cite book|title=Invisible Agents: Women and Espionage in Seventeenth-Century Britain|last=Akkerman|first=Nadine|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2018|isbn=9780198823018|pages=21|oclc=1048595615}} == Collections == The Brienne Collection is a postmaster's trunk of undelivered letters from various places in Europe sent to The Hague, the Netherlands, between 1689 and 1706.{{cite web | title = A Postal Treasure Trove | url = http://brienne.org/unlockedbriennearchive | website = Signed, Sealed & Undelivered - the Brienne Collection | access-date = 10 December 2021 | archive-date = 2 December 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211202070719/http://brienne.org/unlockedbriennearchive | url-status = dead }} The letters were held by the postmaster because, at that time, the recipient was required to pay for delivery and the postmaster kept the letters in the hope that the intended recipient would pay for delivery at a later date. These letters were therefore letters for which the intended recipient never paid for delivery and so therefore never received the remaining letters. The trunk contains about 2,600 folded letters, of which about 600 have been unsealed and studied. The collection is held by the Dutch museum ''Image and Sound The Hague'', which encompasses the former Dutch postal museum.{{ cite web |title=Brienne: Treasure trove of Gossip, Scandal and Intrigue |author= |work=Image and Sound the Hague |date= |access-date=10 December 2021 |url= https://denhaag.beeldengeluid.nl/en/collectie/brienne/#}} The Envelope and Letter Folds Association (ELFA) is an informal organization of enthusiasts founded in 1988-89 and which at one time had local groups in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany.{{ cite web | title = The history of Envelope and Letter Folds Association ELFA | url = http://www.orihouse.com/elfa.html | access-date = 2021-03-03 }} == Research == In March 2021, a group of researchers from the [Massachusetts Institute of Technology](/source/Massachusetts_Institute_of_Technology) used computational techniques to "[virtually unfold](/source/virtual_unfolding)" letters from the Brienne Collection, using technology similar to that used for investigating similarly delicate scrolls, books, and other folded documents.{{ cite web | url = https://news.mit.edu/2021/researchers-virtually-open-sealed-historic-letters-0302 | title = Researchers virtually open and read sealed historic letters | publisher = [MIT Libraries](/source/MIT_Libraries) | date = 2021-03-02 | access-date = 2021-03-09 }}{{ cite journal | title = Unlocking history through automated virtual unfolding of sealed documents imaged by X-ray microtomography | doi = 10.1038/s41467-021-21326-w | last1 = Dambrogio | first1 = Jana | last2 = Ghassaei | first2 = Amanda | last3 = Smith | first3 = Daniel Starza | last4 = Jackson | first4 = Holly | date = 2021-03-02 | journal = [Nature Communications](/source/Nature_Communications) | volume = 12 | issue = 1 | page = 1184 | pmid = 33654094 | pmc = 7925573 | bibcode = 2021NatCo..12.1184D | doi-access= free }} The digitally unfolded letter, sealed since 1697 and secured by eight folds, had been previously scanned using [X-ray microtomography](/source/X-ray_microtomography) (XMT), a technology used in dental and other medical, industrial, and archeological research. While previous XMT efforts had involved algorithms to analyze and digitally flatten ancient scrolls, this research succeeded in interpreting complex, origami-like folds, and parts of letters slotted through and interlocked with other parts of the letters.{{ cite news | last = Broad | first = William J. | title = New Technique Reveals Centuries of Secrets in Locked Letters | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/02/science/locked-letters-unfolding.html | newspaper = [The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times) | date = 2021-03-02 | access-date = 2021-03-08 }} The first book-length study, ''Letterlocking: The Hidden History of the Letter'', was published in 2025 by Jana Dambrogio, Daniel Starza Smith, and the Unlocking History Research Group.{{Cite web|url=https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262049276/letterlocking/|title=Letterlocking}} == See also == * [Letter sheet](/source/Letter_sheet) * [Letters close](/source/Letters_close) == References == {{reflist}} == External links == * {{cite web | title = The Lost Art of Letterlocking: Tutorials, Personal Experience, and Application in Bookbinding | url = https://www.ibookbinding.com/blog/the-lost-art-of-letterlocking-tutorials-personal-experience-and-application-in-bookbinding/ | first = Erica | last = Finch | work = ibookbinding.com | date = 2021-02-11 | access-date = 2021-03-03 }} * {{cite web | url = http://www.ghh.com/elf | title = Envelope and Letter Folding: Introduction – still not new or improved… ''Why the Heck Would You Want to Fold an Envelope?'' | author = Gerard Hughes | date = 30 August 2016 | access-date = 2021-03-03 }} * {{cite web | title = Imaging Locked Letter Collections | url = https://letterlocking.org/imaging-locked-letter-collections | work = Unlocking History Research Group, [MIT](/source/MIT) | access-date = 2021-03-03 }} * {{cite web | title = Letterlocking Dictionary | url = https://letterlocking.org/dictionary | work = Unlocking History Research Group, [MIT](/source/MIT) | access-date = 2021-03-03 }} * Letterlocking video channel on Youtube; demonstration of techniques including those found in the Brienne Collection postal archive. {{cite web | title = Letterlocking videos | url = https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNPZ-f_IWDLz2S1hO027hRQ | website = Youtube.com | access-date = 2021-03-03 }} * {{cite web | title = Before Envelopes, People Protected Messages With Letterlocking: ''For centuries, senders used folds, slits, and wax seals to guard correspondence from prying eyes.'' | url = https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/what-did-people-do-before-envelopes-letterlocking | work = [Atlas Obscura](/source/Atlas_Obscura) | date = 2018-11-09 | access-date = 2021-03-03 }} * {{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210616-how-the-forgotten-tricks-of-letterlocking-shaped-history|title= The clever folds that kept letters secret|work=[BBC](/source/BBC)}} Category:Cultural heritage Category:Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage Category:Letters (message) Category:Postal history Category:Philately --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Letterlocking](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letterlocking) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letterlocking?action=history)). 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