Unlocking History number (UH#)

UH0023



Original

Constantijn Huygens to Amalia von Solms



Model and research notes

MIT Libraries, Unlocking History Research Group archive, MC0760, Box 26.



Letterlocking Unique Video number(s) (LUV #s) & Instructional video(s) URL

LUV023 https://youtu.be/PePWd-h679c 



Instructional video info transcription

Forthcoming



Letterlocking Category number (LC #)

LC13L        



Letterlocking Format number (LF #)

4RW        



Security score

Low        



Assessment of Confidence in assigning LC#

Attested



Substrate

Paper



Dimensions

Opened (in mm):       H: 45mm x W: 50mm

Letterpacket (in mm): 5mm x  15mm



Manifestation

Opened



Distinctive letterlocking style(s)

Pleated letter

Tiny letterpackets



Locking mechanism

Lock



Security enhancements

Authenticated exposed seals    



Letterlocking category formula (shorthand)

LC13 

Fold + Adhere + Lock-O 

(F + A + LO)



Letterlocking manipulation sequence (shorthand)

Fold + fold + fold + fold + fold + fold + fold + fold + fold + fold + Lock-O + Adhere



Locking instructions

Forthcoming



Images 

https://resources.huygens.knaw.nl/briefwisselingconstantijnhuygens/brief/nr/1166 



Transcription

To view details including transcription and images of the original letter, visit the Huygens Institute webpages: Briefwisseling van Constantijn Huygens 1607-1687. 



Translation



Foldable(s)

Forthcoming



Step-by-steps 

Forthcoming



Substrate map

Forthcoming



Virtual unfolding results

NA



Manipulations

Writing: NA

Postal: NA 

Opening: Cut locks

Filing (Storage, Display): Substrate adhered along top edge of address side into a letterbook

Repair: NA



Damage

NA



Features

Dirt on panels/ in crease

Radiating 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 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)

UH0023

Original

Constantijn Huygens to Amalia von Solms (July 9, 1635), The Royal Collections of the Netherlands (Koninklijke Verzamelingen), Archive Amalia von Solms, A14a-IIIc-1. 



Model

MIT Libraries, Unlocking History Research Group archive, MC0760, Box 26.



Video 

LUV023

Jana Dambrogio, Nadine Akkerman, and the Unlocking History Research Group, UHRG “Tiny spy letter: Constantijn Huygens to Amalia von Solms, Neer (1635).” Letterlocking Instructional Videos. Unlocking History number 0023/Letterlocking Unique Video number: 023. Filmed: September 2014. Duration: 4:43. Posted: November 2014. URL: https://youtu.be/PePWd-h679c&t=3s. Accessed: March 4, 2025.     






Return to