Unlocking History number (UH#)

UH0168



Original

Corrected folding sequence! Jane Austen's Roll-folded locked letter to Cassandra [Bath] 17 May



Model and research notes

MIT Libraries, Unlocking History Research Group archive, MC0760, Box 27.



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

LUV 168 https://youtu.be/U3eAEwz35QE (incorrect folding sequence)

LUV  302 https://youtu.be/WHO658Plwr0 (correct folding sequence)



Instructional video info transcription

Forthcoming



Letterlocking Category number (LC #)

LC06L



Letterlocking Format number (LF #)

4RW



Security score

Low



Assessment of Confidence in assigning LC#

Attested



Substrate

Paper



Dimensions

Opened (in mm):       H: 235mm x W: 185mm        

Letterpacket (in mm): H:    80mm x W: 110mm



Manifestation

Opened



Distinctive letterlocking style(s)

Independent folding: Roll fold

Tuck-and-seal



Locking mechanism

Tuck



Security enhancements

Not known 



Letterlocking category formula (shorthand)

LC6 

Fold + Tuck + Adhere 

(F + T + A)



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: Postage marks

Opening: Tears, Seal tears 

Filing (Storage, Display): NA

Repair: Mends



Damage

Tears



Features

Dirt on panels/ in crease

Radiating wrinkles

Wrinkles



Article(s)

NA



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)

UH0168

Original 

Jane Austen’s holograph letter to Cassandra Austen, Bath, England (May 17, 1799). Houghton Library, Harvard University, MS Eng 870, Box 2 (83A).

This letter is referred to as Number 19 in Deidre LeFaye's Jane Austen's Letters.     



Model

MIT Libraries, Unlocking History Research Group archive, MC0760, Box 27.



Video

LUV168 

Jana Dambrogio, Teresa Leone, Gwen Speeth, and the Unlocking History Research Group, “Incorrect fold sequence: Jane Austen’s signed holograph letter to her best friend and sister, Cassandra Austen, England (1799).” Filmed: January 17, 2022. Duration: 2:51. Posted: 8 March 2022. URL: https://youtu.be/U3eAEwz35QE. Accessed March 4, 2025.



LUV302

Jana Dambrogio and the Unlocking History Research Group. “Corrected folding sequence: Jane Austen's roll-folded locked letter to Cassandra, England, (1799).” Filmed: April 8, 2024. Duration: 3:05. Posted: April 13, 2024. URL: https://youtu.be/WHO658Plwr0. Accessed March 4, 2025.                                    








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