Letterlocking is the act of folding and securing a written message (such as a
letter
Letter, letters, or literature may refer to:
Characters typeface
* Letter (alphabet), a character representing one or more of the sounds used in speech; any of the symbols of an alphabet.
* Letterform, the graphic form of a letter of the alphabe ...
) on papyrus, parchment, or paper, without requiring it to be contained in an envelope or packet. It is a traditional method of
document security
Information security, sometimes shortened to InfoSec, is the practice of protecting information by mitigating information risks. It is part of information risk management. It typically involves preventing or reducing the probability of unauthorize ...
that utilizes folding and cutting.
The process dates to the 13th century in Western history, corresponding with the availability of flexible writing paper. Letterlocking uses small slits, tabs, and holes placed directly into a letter, which combined with folding techniques are used to secure the letter ("letterpacket"), preventing reading the letter without breaking seals or slips, providing a means of tamper resistance and
tamper evidence. These folds and holes may be additionally secured with string and
sealing wax
Sealing wax is a wax material of a seal which, after melting, hardens quickly (to paper, parchment, ribbons and wire, and other material) forming a bond that is difficult to separate without noticeable tampering. Wax is used to verify something ...
.
A particularly intricate method known as a spiral lock was in use by people of many social backgrounds in early modern Europe, including monarchs
Mary Queen of Scots
Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567.
The only surviving legitimate child of James V of Sco ...
and
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen".
Eli ...
. The pages of a letter would be folded together to form a packet. A sliver cut from a page but remaining attached at one end would be woven multiple times, back and forth, through short slots cut into the folded pages. The paper would then be moistened so that it would swell, locking the pieces together. The loose end of the sliver would then be pasted down and possibly sealed with wax.
A Scottish diplomat in Italy,
William Keith of Delny
Sir William Keith of Delny (died 1599) was a Scottish courtier and Master of the Royal Wardrobe. He also served as ambassador for James VI to various countries. He was an important intermediary between George Keith, 5th Earl Marischal and the kin ...
, sent letters to
James VI of Scotland in 1595 which would tear in two if not opened with care. In 1603 King James told the Venetian diplomat
Giovanni Carlo Scaramelli, with a smile, that he had previously received letters from the
Doge of Venice
The Doge of Venice ( ; vec, Doxe de Venexia ; it, Doge di Venezia ; all derived from Latin ', "military leader"), sometimes translated as Duke (compare the Italian '), was the chief magistrate and leader of the Republic of Venice between 726 ...
which he could not open without breaking the seal. Scaramelli opened the letter for him.
Intricate letterlocking works contain artistic elements, demonstrating more than a utilitarian purpose. While the use of sealing techniques may have been limited to ecclesiastic and the nobility, letterlocking was historically performed by all classes of writers. An individual could also be recognised by their personal technique of folding, as was the case with
Jane Whorwood
Jane Whorwood ( Ryder; 1612 – September 1684) was a Cavalier, Royalist agent during the English Civil War. She managed circulation of intelligence, as well as smuggling of funds to sustain the Royalist faction. Whorwood was a close confidante o ...
, of whose letter
Charles I of England
Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was King of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. He was born into the House of Stuart as the second son of King James VI of Scotland, but after hi ...
wrote: "This Note
..I know, by the fowldings
..that it is written by
rs Whorwood.
Letterlocking is also a discipline focusing on "the materially engineered security and privacy of letters, both as a technology and a historically evolving tradition."
Collections
The Brienne Collection is a postmaster's trunk of undelivered letters from various places in Europe sent to The Hague, the Netherlands, between 1689 and 1706. The letters were held by the postmaster because, at that time, the recipient was required to pay for delivery and the postmaster kept the letters in the hope that the intended recipient would pay for delivery at a later date. These letters were therefore letters for which the intended recipient never paid for delivery and so therefore never received the remaining letters. The trunk contains about 2,600 folded letters, of which about 600 have been unsealed and studied. The collection is held by the Dutch museum ''Image and Sound The Hague'', which encompasses the former Dutch postal museum.
Research advancements
In March 2021 the journal ''
Nature Communications
''Nature Communications'' is a peer-reviewed, open access, scientific journal published by Nature Portfolio since 2010. It is a multidisciplinary journal and it covers the natural sciences, including physics, chemistry, earth sciences, medici ...
'' reported that a team of researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology used computational techniques to "virtually unfold" letters from the Brienne Collection, using technology similar to that used for investigating similarly delicate scrolls, books, and other folded documents.
The digitally unfolded letter, sealed since 1697 and secured by eight folds, had been previously scanned using
X-ray microtomography
X-ray microtomography, like tomography and X-ray computed tomography, uses X-rays to create cross-sections of a physical object that can be used to recreate a virtual model (3D model) without destroying the original object. The prefix ''micro-'' ...
(XMT), a technology used in dental and other medical, industrial, and archeological research. While previous XMT efforts had involved algorithms to analyze and digitally flatten ancient scrolls, this research succeeded in interpreting complex, origami-like folds, and parts of letters slotted through and interlocked with other parts of the letters.
See also
* Letter sheet
In philatelic terminology a letter sheet, often written lettersheet, is a sheet of paper that can be folded, usually sealed (most often with sealing wax in the 18th and 19th centuries), and mailed without the use of an envelope, or it can also ...
* Letters close __NOTOC__
Letters close ( la, litterae clausae) are a type of obsolete legal document once used by the Pope, the British monarchy and by certain officers of government, which is a sealed letter granting a right, monopoly, title, or status to an i ...
References
External links
* Methods from the Envelope and Letter Folding Association. The Envelope and Letter Folds Association (ELFA) is an informal organization of enthusiasts founded in 1988-89 and which at one time had local groups in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany.
*
*
*
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* Letterlocking video channel on Youtube; demonstration of techniques including those found in the Brienne Collection postal archive.
*
* {{cite news, url=https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210616-how-the-forgotten-tricks-of-letterlocking-shaped-history, title= The clever folds that kept letters secret, work=BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
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