Unlocking History Number (UH#)

UH0169 (letter) + UH0993 (wrapper)

Original

Japanese feudal lord Ōtomo Sōrin 大友宗麟 letter to his retainer Wakabayashi Danjonojo Japan, (August 16, 1569). National Museum of Japanese History, Chiba, Sakura-City, Japan, Call Number H.66.48.

Model and research notes

MIT Libraries, Unlocking History Research Group archive, MC0760, Box 29.

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

LUV169 https://youtu.be/Pb99FBWoiHg

Instructional video info transcription

Forthcoming

Letterlocking category Number (LC #)

LC27H + LC01Z (wrapper), Locked letter in wrapper, document security

Letterlocking format Number (LF #)

4RT

Security score

High

Assessment of Confidence in assigning LC#

Attested

Substrate

Paper

Dimensions

Letter: Opened (in mm): H: 136 mm x W: 505 mm

Letter: Letterpacket (in mm): H: 137 mm x W: 28 mm

Wrapper: Opened (in mm): H: 249 mm x W: 90 mm

Wrapper: Letterpacket (in mm): H: 148 mm x W: 35mm

Manifestation

Opened

Distinctive letterlocking style(s)

Kirifu

Locked letter in a wrapper

Locking Mechanism

Lock

Security enhancements

Forthcoming

Authentication – hand-written line across address panel and lock

Letterlocking category formula (shorthand)

Wrapper

LC1

Fold

(F)

Letter

LC27

Fold + Slit/Hole + Lock-SA

(F + S/H + LSA)

Letterlocking manipulation sequence (shorthand)

Slit (Cut into to make lock-SA) + fold + fold + fold + fold + fold + fold + fold + fold + fold + fold + fold + fold + fold + fold + fold + fold + fold + fold + fold + fold + fold + lock-SA

Locking instructions

Make a cut into the substrate at the bottom right corner to make lock-SA. Stop the cut about 20mm from the top long edge. The lock-SA is about a 15mm wide strip. Roll fold the left short-edge towards the right short-edge 20 times. Wrap the lock-SA around the letterpacket and then around itself to secure lock-SA. Draw a straight light from top to bottom so the line crosses over the letterpacket and the lock.

Images

Forthcoming

Images: View: address side; reverse side

Images: Download: address side; reverse side

Foldable(s)

Forthcoming

Step-by-steps

Forthcoming

Substrate map

Forthcoming

Virtual unfolding results

Manipulations

Forthcoming

Writing: Writing across lock and address panel

Postal: NA

Opening: NA

Filing (Storage, Display): NA

Repair: NA

Damage

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, 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)

UH0169 (letter); 0993 (wrapper)

Original

Japanese feudal lord Ōtomo Sōrin 大友宗麟 letter to his retainer Wakabayashi Danjonojo, Japan, (August 16, 1569). National Museum of Japanese History, Chiba, Sakura-City, Japan, Call Number H.66.48.

Model

MIT Libraries, Unlocking History Research Group archive, MC0760, Box 29.

Video

LUV169

Ayako Letizia, Jana Dambrogio, and the Unlocking History Research Group, “Letterlocking: 切封 Kirifu: Ōtomo Sōrin’s, 大友宗麟 letter to his retainer Wakabayashi Danjonojo, Japan (August 16, 1569).” Letterlocking Instructional Videos. Unlocking History number 0169, 0993/Letterlocking Unique Video number: 0169. Filmed: December 2017. Duration: 3:23. Posted: December 2017. URL: https://youtu.be/Pb99FBWoiHg. Accessed March 4, 2025.