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
Foldable(s)
Forthcoming
Step-by-steps
Forthcoming
Substrate map
Forthcoming
Virtual unfolding results
NA
Manipulations
Writing: Writing across lock and address panel
Postal: NA
Opening: NA
Filing (Storage, Display): NA
Repair: NA
Damage
NA
Features
Dirt on panels/ in crease
Radiating wrinkles
Wrinkles
Transcription
Forthcoming
Translation
Forthcoming
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)
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.