Unlocking History number (UH#)
UH0064
Original
Desiderius Erasmus' Tucked Triangle Lock to Bruno Amerbach
Model and research notes
MIT Libraries, Unlocking History Research Group archive, MC0760, Box 29.
Letterlocking Unique Video number(s) (LUV #s) & Instructional video(s) URL
LUV064 https://youtu.be/vCRo1_sulAM
Instructional video info transcription
Forthcoming
Letterlocking Category number (LC #)
LC24H
Letterlocking Format number (LF #)
4RT
Security score
High
Assessment of Confidence in assigning LC#
Inferred (cut off Lock-SU and sealing wax blob non-extant)
Substrate
Paper
Dimensions
Opened (in mm): 300mm x 210mm
Letterpacket (in mm): 132 mm x 77 mm
Manifestation
Opened
Distinctive letterlocking style(s)
Triangle lock-SU
Locking mechanism
Lock, Tuck
Security enhancements
NA
Letterlocking category formula (shorthand)
LC24
Fold + Tuck + Slit/Hole + Adhere + Lock-SA
(F + T + S/H + A + LSU)
Letterlocking manipulation sequence (shorthand)
Forthcoming
Locking instructions
Forthcoming
slit perpendicular to fore-edge of letterpacket
Images
Forthcoming
Foldable(s)
Forthcoming
Step-by-steps
Forthcoming
Substrate map
Forthcoming
Virtual unfolding results
NA
Manipulations
Writing: Margin folds
Postal: NA
Opening: Tears
Filing (Storage, Display): NA
Repair: NA
Damage
Tears
Features
Dirt on panels/ in crease
Article(s)
2023. Daniel Starza Smith & Jana Dambrogio. Letterlocking: securing correspondence before envelopes in Routledge Encyclopedia of the Renaissance World. Lauren Shohet, subject editor.
Book
Jana Dambrogio and Daniel Starza Smith with the Unlocking History Research Group. Letterlocking: The Hidden History of the Letter. Cambridge and London: MIT Press, 2025.
Citation for the letter(s)
UH0064
Original
Desiderius Erasmus’ letter to Bruno Amerbach (4? November 1517) Harvard University, Houghton Library, Gen. MS Lat 200.1.
Model
MIT Libraries, Unlocking History Research Group archive, MC0760, Box 27.
Video
LUV064
Jana Dambrogio and the Unlocking History Research Group, “Desiderius Erasmus’ tucked triangle lock, Europe (1517).” Letterlocking Instructional Videos. Unlocking History number 0064/Letterlocking Unique Video number: 0064. Filmed: December 2015. Duration: 3:43. Posted: May 2016. https://youtu.be/vCRo1_sulAM. Accessed March 4, 2025.