Unlocking History number (UH#)

UH0030



Original

John Donne's tuck-and-seal letter to Sir Nicholas Carew       



Model and research notes

MIT Libraries, Unlocking History Research Group archive, MC0760, Box 17.



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

LUV030 https://youtu.be/6b24ITwt3MY 



Instructional video info transcription

Forthcoming



Letterlocking Category number (LC #)

LC06L



Letterlocking Format number (LF #)

4RT



Security score

Low



Assessment of Confidence in assigning LC#

Attested



Substrate

Paper



Dimensions

Opened (in mm):       192mm x 143mm        

Letterpacket (in mm):  88mm x  65mm



Manifestation

Opened



Distinctive letterlocking style(s)

Tuck-and-seal



Locking mechanism

Tuck



Security enhancements

Authenticated exposed seal     



Letterlocking category formula (shorthand)

LC06

Fold +Tuck + Adhere 

(F + Tuck + A)



Letterlocking manipulation sequence (shorthand)

Fold + fold + fold + fold +fold + fold + tuck + adhere



Locking instructions

Forthcoming



Images 

Forthcoming



Foldable(s)

Forthcoming



Step-by-steps 

Forthcoming



Substrate map

Forthcoming



Virtual unfolding results

NA



Manipulations

Writing: NA, Margin folds

Postal: NA

Opening: Seal tears 

Filing (Storage, Display): NA, Cuts, Folds, Holes

Repair: NA, Mends, Linings



Damage

Tears



Features

Dirt on panels/ in crease

Radiating wrinkles

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)

UH0030

Original

John Donne to Sir Nicholas Carew (June 21, 1625). Houghton Library, Harvard University, GEN MS Eng 1290.



Model

MIT Libraries, Unlocking History Research Group archive, MC0760, Box 17.



Video

LUV030

Jana Dambrogio, Daniel Starza Smith, and the Unlocking History Research Group, “John Donne’s tuck-and-seal letter to Sir Nicholas Carew, England (1625).” Letterlocking Instructional Videos. Unlocking History number 0030/Letterlocking Unique Video number: 030. Filmed: February 2015. Posted: September 2016. Duration: 2:40. https://youtu.be/6b24ITwt3MY. Accessed March 4, 2025.






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