Unlocking History number (UH#)
UH0137
Original
Queen Elizabeth’s Triangle-shaped letterpacket to François, Duc d’Alencon
Model and research notes
MIT Libraries, Unlocking History Research Group archive, MC0760, Box 16.
Letterlocking Unique Video number(s) (LUV #s) & Instructional video(s) URL
LUV137 https://youtu.be/UFJ9onXK0_4
Instructional video info transcription
Forthcoming
Letterlocking Category number (LC #)
LC15L
Letterlocking Format number (LF #)
3T
Security score
Low
Assessment of Confidence in assigning LC#
Attested
Substrate
Paper
Dimensions
Opened (in mm): H: 180 mm x W: 235 mm
Letterpacket (in mm): H: 75mm x W: 90mm
Manifestation
Opened
Distinctive letterlocking style(s)
Triangle format
Locking mechanism
Lock
Security enhancements
Authenticated exposed seal
Letterlocking category formula (shorthand)
LC15
Fold + Slit/Hole + Adhere + Lock-O
(F + S/H + A + LO)
Letterlocking manipulation sequence (shorthand)
Forthcoming
Locking instructions
Forthcoming
Images
Forthcoming
Foldable(s)
Forthcoming
Step-by-steps
Forthcoming
Substrate map
Forthcoming
Virtual unfolding results
NA
Manipulations
Writing: Margin folds
Postal: NA
Opening: Tears
Filing (Storage, Display): NA, adhered into a letterbook along one edge
Repair: NA, Mends, Linings, Silking
Damage
Tears
Water stains (tide lines)
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.
2021. The Spiral-Locked Letters of Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots
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)
UH0137
Original
Elizabeth I to François, Duc d’Alençon, (1583), The National Archives, Kew, SP fols. 78/9.
Model
MIT Libraries, Unlocking History Research Group archive, MC0760, Box 16.
Video
LUV137
Jana Dambrogio and Daniel Starza Smith and the Unlocking History Research Group, “Queen Elizabeth’s triangle-shaped letterpacket to François, Duc d’Alençon, England (1583).” Letterlocking Instructional Videos. Unlocking History number 0137/Letterlocking Unique Video number: 0137. Filmed: November 2017. Posted: November 2017. Duration: 5:14. https://youtu.be/UFJ9onXK0_4. Accessed March 4, 2025.