letterlocking

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American Academy in Rome: TUESDAY TALKS: WRITING. RESEARCH. BOOKS.

Jana Dambrogio and Daniel Starz Smith - Letterlocking: The Hidden History

TUESDAY TALKS: WRITING. RESEARCH. BOOKS.

register here

6–7pm, March 4th, 2025

JANA DAMBROGIO, 2008 FELLOW, AND DANIEL STARZA SMITH

Letterlocking: The Hidden History of the Letter – launch event and lecture

Join us for the online launch event for Letterlocking: The Hidden History of the Letter (MIT Press)! Before the invention of the gummed envelope in the 1830s, if you wanted to send a letter you would have had to use letterlocking—the ingenious process of securing a letter using a combination of folds, tucks, slits, or adhesives such as sealing wax, so that it becomes its own envelope. This new book reveals the secrets of this almost entirely forgotten practice, used by historical figures ranging from Elizabeth I and her spies to Japanese samurai lords, and which was once an everyday activity for centuries, across cultures, borders, and social classes. Jana Dambrogio and Daniel Starza Smith will give a presentation about letterlocking’s intricate security techniques, will explain how the study emerged over years of collaborative work across conservation, the arts and humanities, and the sciences, and will show you how to fold a historical letter.

Jana Dambrogio is a conservator, researcher, educator, and artist. She works as the Thomas F. Peterson (1957) Conservator for Massachusetts Institute of Technology Libraries. She previously held positions at the US National Archives, the United Nations, and the Vatican Apostolic Archives, where she was Kress Fellow. While working as a conservator in an ancient archive, she rediscovered a technique she coined, "letterlocking." Over the years, she modeled thousands of letters, and with her co-author Daniel Starza Smith, assembled the Unlocking History Research Group. The team focuses on developing this new field by creating resources to examine, document, categorize, and virtually unfold historic letters.

Daniel Starza Smith is Senior Lecturer in Early Modern English Literature at King's College London. His books include John Donne and the Conway Papers, Manuscript Miscellanies in Early Modern England, and Liber amicorum H. R. Woudhuysen. He is General Editor of the correspondence of John Donne for Oxford University Press.

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Pre-order the Book – 20% discount code

Discount: 20% off

Code: READMIT20

Click the link here

Limit one discount code per person. Valid for one transaction. Discount code is not redeemable for cash, is non-transferable and cannot be used with any other offer or discount. Valid only on penguinrandomhouse.com. US mailing address required.

Letterlocking

The Hidden History of the Letter

By Jana Dambrogio and Daniel Starza Smith with the Unlocking History Research Group

The rich history of a centuries-old document security technology—folding and securing a letter into its own envelope for delivery—and a comprehensive guide to learning how to make your own locked letters.

Before the invention of the gummed envelope in the 1830s, how did people secure their private letters? The answer is letterlocking—the ingenious process of securing a letter using a combination of folds, tucks, slits, or adhesives such as sealing wax, so that it becomes its own envelope. This almost entirely forgotten practice, used by historical figures ranging from Elizabeth I and her spies to Japanese samurai lords, was an everyday activity for centuries, across cultures, borders, and social classes. In Letterlocking, Jana Dambrogio and Daniel Starza Smith, experts who have pioneered the field over the last ten years, tell the fascinating story of letterlocking within epistolary history, drawing on real historical examples from all over the world.

Fully illustrated with more than 300 images and diagrams, including a dictionary of sixty technical terms and concepts, Letterlocking describes the essential precepts of the practice and provides sources of practical support needed for beginner and advanced users of letterlocking. The authors also advocate for the understanding of letterlocking and for its inclusion in a range of intellectual and cultural research, from conservation science and archival databases to historical television shows. By the end of the book, readers will learn how to make locked letters, study letters that may have been locked, and categorize those letters using systems the authors developed while studying more than 250,000 historic letters.

Letterlocking is accompanied by a website, freely acces-sible scholarly articles, and instructional videos and diagrams, as well as foldable tear-out sheets with instructions on how to fold and lock models of extant historical letters.

Jana Dambrogio is Thomas F. Peterson (1957) Conservator for MIT Libraries. She previously held positions at the US National Archives, the United Nations, and the Vatican Apostolic Archives.

Daniel Starza Smith is Senior Lecturer in Early Modern English Literature at King’s College London. His books include John Donne and the Conway Papers and (with coeditor Joshua Eckhardt) Manuscript Miscellanies in Early Modern England. He is General Editor of the correspondence of John Donne for Oxford University Press.

March 2025 | 528 pp. | 361 color illustrations | US $40.00 | 9780262049276

[letterlocking]

American Academy in Rome: TUESDAY TALKS: WRITING. RESEARCH. BOOKS.

Jana Dambrogio and Daniel Starz Smith - Letterlocking: The Hidden History

TUESDAY TALKS: WRITING. RESEARCH. BOOKS.

register here

6–7pm, March 4th, 2025

JANA DAMBROGIO, 2008 FELLOW, AND DANIEL STARZA SMITH

Letterlocking: The Hidden History of the Letter – launch event and lecture

Join us for the online launch event for Letterlocking: The Hidden History of the Letter (MIT Press)! Before the invention of the gummed envelope in the 1830s, if you wanted to send a letter you would have had to use letterlocking—the ingenious process of securing a letter using a combination of folds, tucks, slits, or adhesives such as sealing wax, so that it becomes its own envelope. This new book reveals the secrets of this almost entirely forgotten practice, used by historical figures ranging from Elizabeth I and her spies to Japanese samurai lords, and which was once an everyday activity for centuries, across cultures, borders, and social classes. Jana Dambrogio and Daniel Starza Smith will give a presentation about letterlocking’s intricate security techniques, will explain how the study emerged over years of collaborative work across conservation, the arts and humanities, and the sciences, and will show you how to fold a historical letter.

Jana Dambrogio is a conservator, researcher, educator, and artist. She works as the Thomas F. Peterson (1957) Conservator for Massachusetts Institute of Technology Libraries. She previously held positions at the US National Archives, the United Nations, and the Vatican Apostolic Archives, where she was Kress Fellow. While working as a conservator in an ancient archive, she rediscovered a technique she coined, "letterlocking." Over the years, she modeled thousands of letters, and with her co-author Daniel Starza Smith, assembled the Unlocking History Research Group. The team focuses on developing this new field by creating resources to examine, document, categorize, and virtually unfold historic letters.

Daniel Starza Smith is Senior Lecturer in Early Modern English Literature at King's College London. His books include John Donne and the Conway Papers, Manuscript Miscellanies in Early Modern England, and Liber amicorum H. R. Woudhuysen. He is General Editor of the correspondence of John Donne for Oxford University Press.

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Thank you, everyone! Surprise: It’s happening! Our book is coming out. Letterlocking: The Hidden History of the Letter by Jana Dambrogio, Daniel Starza Smith, with the Unlocking History Research Group. Publication date: March 4, 2025. Publisher: The MIT Press. 320 pp, 8x9 inches, 261 color illustration. Hardcover ISBN: 9780262049276, $40.00. Pre-order @mitpress @penguinrandomhouse @amazon @barnesandnoble @bookshop_org @Indiebound @indigo @booksamillion. 

Description The rich history of a centuries-old document security technology—folding and securing a letter into its own envelope for delivery—and a comprehensive guide to learning how to make your own locked letters. Before the invention of the gummed envelope in the 1830s, how did people secure their private letters? The answer is letterlocking—the ingenious process of folding, slitting, and securing a letter with a strip of paper and sealing wax so that it becomes its own envelope. The practice, used by historical figures ranging from Elizabeth I and her spymaster to Japanese samurai lords, and nearly entirely forgotten, was an everyday activity for centuries, across cultures, borders, and social classes. In Letterlocking, Jana Dambrogio and Daniel Starza Smith, experts who have pioneered the field over the last ten years, tell the fascinating story of letterlocking within epistolary history, drawing on real historical examples from all over the world. Letterlocking will be accompanied by a website, freely accessible scholarly articles, and instructional videos and diagrams, as well as foldable, tear-out sheets with instructions on how to fold and lock a letter. 

Thank you, @barnesandnoble for offering a pre-order discount to your members April 19, on our book “Letterlocking: The Hidden History of the Letter” #BNPreorder 

#mitpress #letterlocking #amsr #origami #documentsecurity #letters #correspondence #fold #diy #security #seal #secret #love #write #encryption #spies #invisible #teaching #instructions #book #publication #launch #video #share 

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/letterlocking-jana-dambrogio/1145200759?ean=9780262049276

Alt text: A sparkling star made of magenta and yellow. In the center the date: March 4, 2025. Blue background with white lettering that says, "Letterlocking, The Hidden History of the Letter by Jana Dambrogio, Daniel Starza Smith, with the Unlocking History Research Group. Pre-order now @mitpress @penguinrandomhouse @amazon @barnesandnoble @bookshop_org @Indiebound @indigo @booksamillion

Thanks to Eirene Pianeta for sharing the gif design template in Canva. 

Citation information: Authors: Jana Dambrogio and the Unlocking History Research Group. Title: "Surprise: It's Happening! Letterlocking: The Hidden History of the Letter. Pub date: March 4, 2025, USA (2024))." Letterlocking Instructional Videos. Unlocking History number 6261/Letterlocking Unique Video number: 0304. Date filmed: April 19, 2024. Duration: 1:52. Date posted: April 19, 2024. Video URL: [Insert URL]. Date accessed: [Date].

Copyright 2024. Jana Dambrogio and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). All rights reserved. The following copyrighted material is made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. Contact the MIT Technology Licensing Office for any other licensing inquiries.

To find out more about letterlocking, visit http://letterlocking.org and follow us on social media @letterlocking.

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Research in Action: "By your leave, wax: Letterlocking on the Shakespearean Stage"

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Letterlocking: Lucy May Schofield's "Pis'ma-treigol'niki = Letters of triangles," England (2013)

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Letterlocking: Mary Queen of Scots last letter, England (1587)

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Letterlocking: Intelligencer Simeon Fox’s Dagger-Trap Letter sent from Venice (1601)

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People Protected Messages With Letterlocking

9 Nov 2018. Article by Abigail Cain. Atlas Obscura. https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/what-did-people-do-before-envelopes-letterlocking 

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Letterlocking in action: A video demonstrating how people in the 16th century built tamper-proof security into their correspondence. Queen Elizabeth I of England, poet and preacher John Donne, Italian businessman Tomaso di Livrieri, and many others used this letter folding and sealing format to protect their private communications. 

[letterlocking]

Featured this week in The New York Times: How MIT Libraries’ Jana Dambrogio studies the secret art of letterlocking.

More on letterlocking research at MIT.

Photos: L. Barry Hetherington (Dambrogio); Jana Dambrogio, Collection of H.S.H. Prince Nicolo and HSH Princess Rita Boncompagni Ludovisi, Rome (detail); MIT Libraries (batch of letters)

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My Dear this Heart which you behold... A Puzzle

My Dear this Heart which you behold… A Puzzle

After reading about Jana Dambrogio, the Thomas F. Peterson conservator at M.I.T. Libraries, who is analyzing how letter writers have sealed their letters until they reached the intended recipients, I was reminded of a valentine in the Graphic Arts collection. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/18/arts/design/a-trove-of-letterlocking-or-vintage-strategies-to-deter-snoops.html Dambrogio has a great…

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Marshals’ Returns of Enemy Aliens and Prisoners of War

Q: What made the hole in the middle of this U.S. Marshal’s letter from 1812? A: The damage occurred when the addressee opened the letter which had been sealed closed with a bright red wafer. This document demonstrates historic letterlocking. Letterlocking refers to a piece of paper written on, folded and sealed shut to create its own envelope.  Many early letters in the National Archives holdings are examples of historic letterlocking, especially letters from heads of state. The photos show a letter listing enemy aliens who reported to the US Marshals’ is from the War of 1812, RG 59 Marshals’ Returns of Enemy Aliens and Prisoners of War, compiled 1812 - 1815.  The series from Record Group 59 contains the returns of U.S. Marshals’ listing enemy aliens who had reported to them. The lists usually show the name, age, and occupation of each alien; the length and places of residence in the United States; the names of members of his family; and the date of his application of naturalization. Included are some receipts from the British consul in Boston for prisoners turned over to him, some lists of prisoners of war delivered to marshals from U.S. ships, and a printed copy of “The Case of Alien Enemies,” 1813.”

[letterlocking]

Featured this week in The New York Times: How MIT Libraries’ Jana Dambrogio studies the secret art of letterlocking.

More on letterlocking research at MIT.

Photos: L. Barry Hetherington (Dambrogio); Jana Dambrogio, Collection of H.S.H. Prince Nicolo and HSH Princess Rita Boncompagni Ludovisi, Rome (detail); MIT Libraries (batch of letters)

[letterlocking]

Letterlocking in action: A video demonstrating how people in the 16th century built tamper-proof security into their correspondence. Queen Elizabeth I of England, poet and preacher John Donne, Italian businessman Tomaso di Livrieri, and many others used this letter folding and sealing format to protect their private communications. 

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The triangle-shaped paper lock with slit parallel to the foredge. Image: Unlocking a model of a 16th-century letter with high levels of built-in physical security.