Unlocking History number (UH#)

UH0227



Original

Phillis Wheatley to Obour Tanner, Boston, USA, 6 May 1774



Model and research notes

MIT Libraries, Unlocking History Research Group archive, MC0760, Box 28.



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

LUV227 https://youtu.be/JeMgvbhdK6Y 



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: 230 mm x W: 185 mm

Letterpacket (in mm): H:   85 mm x W: 107 mm 



Manifestation

Opened



Distinctive letterlocking style(s)

Independent folding – Roll fold

Tuck-and-seal



Locking mechanism

Tuck



Security enhancements

roll fold

Letterlocking category formula (shorthand)

LC6 

Fold + Tuck + Adhere 

(F + T + A)



Letterlocking manipulation sequence (shorthand)

Fold + fold + fold + fold + fold + fold tuck + adhere



Locking instructions

Forthcoming



Images 

MHS Collections Online: Letter from Phillis Wheatley to Obour Tanner, 6 May 1774 



Foldable(s)

Forthcoming



Step-by-steps 

Forthcoming



Substrate map

Forthcoming



Virtual unfolding results

NA



Manipulations

Writing: NA, Margin folds

Postal: written notation on address panel: delivered by Mr Pemberton

Opening: NA, Tears, Seal tears 

Filing (Storage, Display): Stored flat and loose

Repair: Mends, Linings, Silking overall    



Damage

Tears

Ink Corrosion



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.



Transcription

MHS Collections Online: Letter from Phillis Wheatley to Obour Tanner, 6 May 1774 



Further resources

Jeffers, Honor.e Fannone. The Age of Phillis. Wesleyan Poetry Series. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 2020.



Citation for the letter(s)

UH0227

Original

Phillis Wheatley to Obour Tanner (May 6, 1774), Massachusetts Historical Society, Miscellaneous Bound Manuscripts.



Model

MIT Libraries, Unlocking History Research Group archive, MC0760, Box 28.



Video

LUV227

Jana Dambrogio, Sheree Watson, MD, Walter O. Evans, MD, Linda J. Evans,and the Unlocking History Research Group. “Miss Phillis Wheatley’s rolled, tuck, and seal letter to Miss Obour Tanner, England (6 May 1774).” Filmed: March 6, 2023. Duration: 2:36. Posted: 3 November 2023. URL: https://youtu.be/JeMgvbhdK6Y. Accessed March 4, 2025.     






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