Unlocking History number (UH#)
UH0042
Original
Queen Elizabeth I of England, Triangle Lock-O
Model and research notes
MIT Libraries, Unlocking History Research Group, MC0760, Box 16.
Letterlocking Unique Video number(s) (LUV #s) & Instructional video(s) URL
LUV042 https://youtu.be/o0XOxS0ZQWI
Instructional video info transcription
Forthcoming
Letterlocking Category number (LC #)
LC15L
Letterlocking Format number (LF #)
4RW
Security score
Low
Assessment of Confidence in assigning LC#
Attested
Substrate
Paper
Dimensions
Opened: H: 307mm x W: 205mm
Letterpacket: H: 78mm x W: 102mm
Manifestation
Opened
Distinctive letterlocking style(s)
Triangle lock-O
Locking mechanism
Lock
Security enhancements
Address written across lock
Authenticated covered seal
Cross-hatching
Fake security
Hatching
Matching ink color
Matching handwriting
Matching lock with paper from which it was cut
Letterlocking category formula (shorthand)
LC15
Fold + slit/hole + lock-O + adhere (F + S/H/ + LO + A)
Letterlocking manipulation sequence (shorthand)
Fold + fold + fold + fold +fold + fold + slit + lock-O + adhere
Locking instructions
Forthcoming
Images
Forthcoming
Foldable(s)
Forthcoming
Step-by-steps
Forthcoming
Substrate map
Forthcoming
Virtual unfolding results
NA
Manipulations
Writing: Margin folds
Postal: NA
Opening: Seal tears
Filing (Storage, Display): Sewing holes
Repair: Mends
Damage
Tears
Features
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 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)
UH0042
Original
Elizabeth I’s letter to Sir Ralph Sadler (31 October 1584), the British Library, Add MS 89293, fols. 7r-8v.
Model
MIT Libraries, Unlocking History Research Group archive, MC0760, Box 16.
Video
LUV042
Jana Dambrogio and the Unlocking History Research Group. "Queen Elizabeth I of England, Triangle Lock (1584)," Letterlocking Instructional Videos. Unlocking History number 0042/Letterlocking Unique Video number: 0042. Filmed: December 2015. Duration: 4:25. Posted: March 2016. URL: https://youtu.be/o0XOxS0ZQWI. Accessed: March 4, 2025.