Unlocking History number (UH#)

UH0031



Original

John Donne's pleated letter to Sir Robert Harley, England (7 April 1613)



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

LUV 031 http://youtu.be/vHY0p1Lej10  alt ending

LUV 093 https://youtu.be/q48UYTLfeec 



Instructional video info transcription

Forthcoming]



Letterlocking Category number (LC #)

LC13L        



Letterlocking Format number (LF #)

4RXW



Security score

Low



Assessment of Confidence in assigning LC#

Attested



Substrate

Paper



Dimensions

Forthcoming

Opened (in mm):       H: 227mm x W: 170mm        

Letterpacket (in mm):   H:    30mm x W:  87mm 



Manifestation

Opened



Distinctive letterlocking style(s)

Pleated letter



Locking mechanism

Lock



Security enhancements

Authenticated exposed seals      



Letterlocking category formula (shorthand)

LC13 

Fold + Adhere + Lock-O

(F + A + LO)



Letterlocking manipulation sequence (shorthand)

LUV 031: Fold + fold + fold + fold +fold + fold + lock-O + adhere

LUV 098: Fold + fold + fold + fold + fold + fold + fold + fold + fold + fold + fold + fold + lock-O + adhere



Locking instructions

LUV 030: Forthcoming

LUV 093:Forthcoming



Images 

Forthcoming



Foldable(s)

Forthcoming



Step-by-steps 

Forthcoming



Substrate map

Forthcoming



Virtual unfolding results

NA



Manipulations

Writing: Margin fold 30mm from left on recto

Postal: NA

Opening: Cut threads

Filing (Storage, Display): Seal impression adjacency, adhered to flange in letterbook

Repair: Mend and insert. Grey-green thread stuck down with glue



Damage

The verso has two horizontal green lines on it, perhaps some kind of glue? This seems to have happened to the letter after conservation, as it crosses paper that has been added to reinforce the letter. 



Features

Forthcoming

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)



UH0031

Original

John Donne to Sir Robert Harley (April 7, 1613). British Library, Add. MS 70001, fol. 124r–v.



Model

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



Video

LUV031

Jana Dambrogio, Daniel Starza Smith, and the Unlocking History Research Group, "John Donne's pleated letter to Sir Robert Harley, England, alt ending (1613)," Letterlocking Instructional Videos. Unlocking History number 0031/Letterlocking Unique Video number: 031. Filmed: February 2015. Duration: 3:46. Posted: September 2016. URL: https://youtu.be/vHY0p1Lej10. Accessed: March 4, 2025.



LUV093

Jana Dambrogio, Daniel Starza Smith, and the Unlocking History Research Group, "John Donne's pleated letter to Sir Robert Harley, England (1613)," Letterlocking Instructional Videos. Unlocking History number 0031/Letterlocking Unique Video number: 093. Filmed: October 2016. Duration: 4:38. Posted: January 4, 2025. URL: https://youtu.be/q48UYTLfeec. Accessed: March 4, 2025.






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