Unlocking History number (UH#)
UH0225
Original
Shakespeare props, Twelfth Night, Malvolio’s letter: “By your leave, wax” (2019)
Model and research notes
MIT Libraries, Unlocking History Research Group archive, MC0760, Box 18.
Letterlocking Unique Video number(s) (LUV #s) & Instructional video(s) URL
LUV225 https://youtu.be/oXxpmX7JdCM
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): H: 295mm x W: 208mm
Letterpacket (in mm): H: 78mm x W: 105mm
Manifestation
Opened
Distinctive letterlocking style(s)
Prop model
Triangle lock
Locking mechanism
Lock
Security enhancements
Matching lock with paper from which it was cut
Text across lock and address panel
Letterlocking category formula (shorthand)
LC23
Fold + Slit/Hole + Adhere + Lock-SU
(F + S/H + A + LSU)
Letterlocking manipulation sequence (shorthand)
Fold + fold + fold + fold +fold + slit + lock-SU + adhere
Locking instructions
Forthcoming
Slice out triangle lock-SU. Set aside lock-SU. Fold short-edge to short-edge fold. Open. Fold short-edge closed gatefold. Fold short-edge to short-edge fold. Slit through all panels of the letterpacket. Lace tip of triangle lock-SU through slit. Shape lock tip. Apply adhesive. Wrap lock around accessible edges. Apply adhesive. Impress seal-stamp. Flip packet. Write address.
Images
Forthcoming
Foldable(s)
Forthcoming
Step-by-steps
Forthcoming
Substrate map
Forthcoming
Virtual unfolding results
NA
Manipulations
Forthcoming
Damage
NA
Features
NA
Article(s)
2023. Daniel Starza Smith & Jana Dambrogio. Letterlocking: securing correspondence before envelopes in Routledge Encyclopedia of the Renaissance World. Lauren Shohet, subject editor.
2019. Daniel Starza Smith & Jana Dambrogio. “Unfolding Action: Locked Letters as Props in the Early Modern Theatre” essay in Early British Drama in Manuscript, ed. by Tamara Atkin & Laura Estill, British Manuscripts, 1 (Turnhout: Brepols). 229–245.
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.
Further resources
Research in Action: "By your leave, wax: Letterlocking on the Shakespearean Stage"
Citation for the letter(s)
UH0225
Original and model: A trick letter found by Shakespeare’s Malvolio (2019), MIT, MC0760, Box 18.
Original and model
MIT Libraries, Unlocking History Research Group archive, MC0760, Box 18.
Video
LUV225
Jana Dambrogio, Daniel Starza Smith, and the Unlocking History Research Group, “Shakespeare props, Twelfth Night, Malvolio’s letter: ‘By your leave, wax’.” Letterlocking Instructional Videos. Unlocking History number 0225/Letterlocking Unique Video number: 0225. Filmed: July 30, 2021. Posted: 9 November 2021. Duration: 4:31. https://youtu.be/oXxpmX7JdCM. Accessed March 4, 2025.