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

Forthcoming

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, 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)

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.