Unlocking History number (UH#)
UH0073
Original
The Sword Lock: A Letter from Gio. Pietro Sementri to the most Reverend Padre Daniele Rosa
Model and research notes
MIT Libraries, Unlocking History Research Group archive, MC0760, Box 15.
Letterlocking Unique Video number(s) (LUV #s) & Instructional video(s) URL
LUV073 https://youtu.be/xH6BaSC8pN8
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
Forthcoming
Manifestation
Opened
Distinctive letterlocking style(s)
Penguin lock
Sliced out lock-SU dagger shaped
Locking mechanism
Lock
Security enhancements
Authenticated covered seal
Letterlocking category formula (shorthand)
LC23
Fold + Slit/Hole + Adhere + Lock-SU
(F + S/H + A + LSU)
Letterlocking manipulation sequence (shorthand)
Forthcoming
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: Tears, Seal tears
Filing (Storage, Display): NA
Repair: NA, Letter stored loose among fascicles and has no known conservation interventions.
Damage
Tears
Ink Corrosion
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 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)
UH0073
Original
Gio. Pietro Sementri to the most Reverend Padre Daniele Rosa (April 23, 1613). Vatican Apostolic Archives, Fondo Veneto II, Container 796.
Model
MIT Libraries, Unlocking History Research Group archive, MC0760, Box 15.
Video
LUV073
Jana Dambrogio and the Unlocking History Research Group, “The sword lock: A letter from Gio. Pietro Sementri to the most Reverend Padre Daniele Rosa, Italy (1613).” Letterlocking Instructional Videos. Unlocking History number 0073/Letterlocking Unique Video number: 0073. Posted: October 2016. Filmed: September 2016. Duration: 4:04. URL: https://youtu.be/xH6BaSC8pN8. Accessed March 4, 2025.