Unlocking History number (UH#)
UH0015
Original
Elizabeth I to Sir Rafe Sadler: Triangle lock w/slit perpendicular to fore-edge
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
LUV015 https://youtu.be/3Ddt1wMIlug
LUV020 https://youtu.be/nVT4FPvMUB4
LUV260 https://youtu.be/FD6a-LerT58
Instructional video info transcription
Forthcoming
Letterlocking Category number (LC #)
LC23H
Letterlocking Format number (LF #)
4RW
Security score
High
Assessment of Confidence in assigning LC#
Attested
Substrate
Paper
Dimensions
Opened (in mm): 410mm x 315 mm
Letterpacket (in mm): 79mm x 102mm
Manifestation
Opened
Distinctive letterlocking style(s)
Triangle lock-SU
Locking mechanism
Lock
Security enhancements
Authenticated covered seal
Cross-hatching
Hatching
Matching lock with paper from which it was cut
Letterlocking category formula (shorthand)
Fold + Slit/Hole + Adhere + Lock-SU
(F + S/H + A + LSU)
Letterlocking manipulation sequence (shorthand)
Example: Fold + fold + fold + fold + fold + fold + fold + fold + fold + slit + lock-SU + adhere
Locking instructions
Forthcoming
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
NA
Manipulations
Writing: NA, Margin folds
Postal: NA
Opening: Tears, part of lock no longer present
Filing (Storage, Display): Sewing Holes in to letterbook
Repair: Mends
Damage
Tears
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.
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)
UH0015
Original
Elizabeth I to Sir Ralph Sadler (December 3, 1584). British Library, Add MS 89293, fols. 9r-10v.
Model
MIT Libraries, Unlocking History Research Group archive, MC0760, Box 16.
Videos
LUV015
Jana Dambrogio and the Unlocking History Research Group, “Triangle lock w/slit perpendicular to fore-edge, England (1584).” Letterlocking Instructional Videos. Filmed: June 2014. Duration: 3:52. Posted: June 2014. URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ddt1wMIlug. Accessed: March 4, 2025.
LUV020
Jana Dambrogio and the Unlocking History Research Group, “Detail, Triangle lock with slit perpendicular to fore-edge, England (1584).” Letterlocking Instructional Videos. Unlocking History number 0015/Letterlocking Unique Video number: 020. Filmed: April 2014. Duration: 0:08. Posted: May 2014. URL: https://youtu.be/nVT4FPvMUB4. Accessed: March 4, 2025.
LUV260
Jana Dambrogio, Daniel Starza Smith, and the Unlocking History Research Group, “Elizabeth I to Sir Ralph Sadler: Triangle lock w/slit perpendicular to fore-edge, England (1584).” Letterlocking Instructional Videos. Unlocking History number 0015/Letterlocking Unique Video number: 260. Filmed: July 30, 2021. Duration: 6:31. Posted: February 11, 2022. URL: https://youtu.be/FD6a-LerT58. Accessed: March 4, 2025.