Unlocking History number (UH#)
UH0012
Original
Marie Antoinette’s Letter to Cardinal Ignazio Boncompagni Ludovisi with a Removable Paper Lock
Model and research notes
MIT Libraries, Unlocking History Research Group archive, MC0760, Box 25, 52.
Letterlocking Unique Video number(s) (LUV #s) & Instructional video(s) URL
LUV012
Instructional video info transcription
Forthcoming
Letterlocking Category number (LC #)
LC11Z
Letterlocking Format number (LF #)
4RW
Security score
Zero
Assessment of Confidence in assigning LC#
Inferred
Substrate
Paper
Dimensions
Opened (in mm): 365mm x 240mm
Letterpacket (in mm): 90mm x 122mm
Manifestation
Opened
Distinctive letterlocking style(s)
Removable lock
Locking mechanism
Lock
Security enhancements
Authenticated covered seal on removable Lock-O
Letterlocking category formula (shorthand)
Fold + Slit/Hole + Lock-O
(F + S/H + LO)
Letterlocking manipulation sequence (shorthand)
Forthcoming
Locking instructions
Short-edge to short-edge fold; long-edge to long-edge fold, short-edge to short edge fold, slit, lock-O
Images
Forthcoming
Foldable(s)
Forthcoming
Step-by-steps
Forthcoming
Substrate map
Forthcoming
Virtual unfolding results
NA
Manipulations
Writing: Margin folds, scribe lines
Postal: NA
Opening: Tears, lock in fragments
Filing: NA
Repair: NA
Damage
NA
Features
Dirt on panels/ in crease
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.
2014. Letterlocking: The Art & Security of Letter writing in Book Arts, Arts du Livre Canada, Vol.5 (2014): 2. 21–23.
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)
Original
Marie Antoinette to Cardinal Ignazio Boncompagni Ludovisi (1782). Boncompagni-Ludovisi Archives (Villa Aurora).
Model
MIT Libraries, Unlocking History Research Group archive, MC0760, Box 25, 52.
Video
Jana Dambrogio and the Unlocking History Research Group, “Marie Antoinette’s letter with a removable paper lock, France (1782),” Letterlocking Instructional Videos. Unlocking History number 0012/Letterlocking Unique Video number: 012. Filmed: June 2014. Posted: June 2014. Duration: 2:31. URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LvFxLJX2WU. Accessed: March 4, 2025.