Unlocking History Number (UH#)

UH0005

Original

Triangle lock-O letter from Bosuto di Parona to Reverend Ambrosio

Model and research notes

MIT Libraries, Unlocking History Research Group archive, MC0760, Boxes 5–15.

Letterlocking Unique Video Number(s) (LUV #s) & Instructional Video (s) URL

LUV 005 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RANyWZqDhnU 

Instructional video info transcription

Forthcoming

Letterlocking category Number (LC #)

LC15L or LC16L                      

Letterlocking format Number (LF #)

4S       

Security score

Low

Assessment of Confidence in assigning LC#

Inferred

Substrate

Paper

Dimensions

Opened (in mm):        272 mm x 224 mm

Letterpacket (in mm): 80mm x 82mm

Manifestation

Opened, Partially opened, Refolded, Unopened, Unopened (virtually opened)

Distinctive letterlocking style(s)

Triangle lock-O

Locking Mechanism

Lock

Security enhancements

Fake security

Text across lock and address panel        

Letterlocking category formula (shorthand)

Forthcoming

LC15 (L+f+s+h+lo+a) or LC16 (L+f+s+h+t+lo+a)      

Letterlocking manipulation sequence (shorthand)

Forthcoming

Locking instructions

Forthcoming

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): Cuts, Folds

Repair: NA

Damage

Tears

Ink Corrosion

Wormholes

Features

Dirty panels

Radiating wrinkles

Seal impression adjacency

Wrinkles

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, Daniel Starza Smith, and the Unlocking History Research Group. Letterlocking, The Hidden History of the Letter. Cambridge and London: MIT Press, 2025.

Citation for the letter(s)

Original

Bosuto di Parona to Reverend Ambrosio (1494). San Girolamo di Vicenza, Istrumenti e Carte del Secolo XV, Vatican Apostolic Archive, Fondo Veneto, Sezione II, container 670, folder 3, last letter.

Model

MIT Libraries, Unlocking History Research Group archive, MC0760, Boxes 5–15.

Video

Jana Dambrogio and the Unlocking History Research Group, “Triangle-shaped paper lock with slit perpendicular to the fore-edge, Italy (1494).” Letterlocking Instructional Videos. Unlocking History number 0005/Letterlocking Unique Video number: 005.Filmed: June 2014. Posted: June 2014. Duration: 3:46. URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RANyWZqDhnU. Accessed: March 4, 2025.