Basically, opening centuries-old letters that are sealed with this technique is usually a destructive process: you might end up rendering some portions of the letter unreadable.
As such, many of these letters have never been opened! They might contain interesting things, but we have no idea.
Some researchers figured out a way to "unfold" X-rays of these intricately-locked letters, to render the letter legible without having to actually open it! It's a pretty cool technique.
That articles leads me to one of my kinds of YouTube channels, and my favor type of little corner of the internet: A vast array of oddly specific and niche knowledge I had no idea I wanted
Some of the things we've done with old letters are fascinating.
I remember when they figured out how to use spectral analysis to 'see' the solvents that soak into paper from the ink, allowing them to read words that had flaked off due to the ink or the paper delaminating, especially at the edges of paper.
this is one of those technologies - drop a letter from centuries ago onto an x-ray and let it get displayed on a computer screen - that will really make future tech look like "magic"
It's pretty easy to non-destructively lift a wax seal off of paper, with a sharp, hot knife and a bit of practice. You can then read the letter and reseal it with a touch more hot wax or the back of a heated spoon (to melt the back of the original seal).
Not that I've ever done that, as a courier, in a live-roleplay game, ever. Repeatedly ;D
Depending on the security level of the letter, of course, a non-letterlocked letter might be pretty readable even if sealed. A simple letter where the seal authenticates the sender but doesn't protect the contents might simply be folded in three and sealed closed - you can bend and flex such a letter without breaking the seal to read most of it. A more important letter being _protected_ by a seal might be folded into an ersatz envelope and then sealed on the join ... but that's most of the way to a basic letterlock.
So, like all communications there's a tradeoff between complexity and security, and whether you're using the seal merely to authenticate the sender (which was pretty common) or also to protect the contents.
Looking at the links in the Wikipedia article I discovered this wonderfully “old web”-style page with various envelope folding guides[1]. I found it so endearing that I sat down and tried a few of them out, which was great fun.
I don't know much about the device you describe, but fastening papers with something like this is probably way better than staples if the goal is long-term storage. Staples and other metal fasteners are pretty destructive. The National Archives offers guidance for fastened document preservation, for example, here: https://www.archives.gov/preservation/holdings-maintenance/f.... Staples can add a lot of unneeded bulk to records, too.
There still is. We have a couple of these in my house. It's not as effective as a metal stapler, but it works well enough for things that we don't need permanently connected (plus it's much safer for my 6-year-old kids to use).
gen220|5 years ago
Basically, opening centuries-old letters that are sealed with this technique is usually a destructive process: you might end up rendering some portions of the letter unreadable.
As such, many of these letters have never been opened! They might contain interesting things, but we have no idea.
Some researchers figured out a way to "unfold" X-rays of these intricately-locked letters, to render the letter legible without having to actually open it! It's a pretty cool technique.
The underlying paper is here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-21326-w
jedimastert|5 years ago
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNPZ-f_IWDLz2S1hO027hRQ
hinkley|5 years ago
I remember when they figured out how to use spectral analysis to 'see' the solvents that soak into paper from the ink, allowing them to read words that had flaked off due to the ink or the paper delaminating, especially at the edges of paper.
msp-m|5 years ago
SamBam|5 years ago
If sealing wax is going to be used anyway, why not just fold the letter and seal with wax like normal?
signaturefish|5 years ago
Not that I've ever done that, as a courier, in a live-roleplay game, ever. Repeatedly ;D
Depending on the security level of the letter, of course, a non-letterlocked letter might be pretty readable even if sealed. A simple letter where the seal authenticates the sender but doesn't protect the contents might simply be folded in three and sealed closed - you can bend and flex such a letter without breaking the seal to read most of it. A more important letter being _protected_ by a seal might be folded into an ersatz envelope and then sealed on the join ... but that's most of the way to a basic letterlock.
So, like all communications there's a tradeoff between complexity and security, and whether you're using the seal merely to authenticate the sender (which was pretty common) or also to protect the contents.
function_seven|5 years ago
If there are other pieces of paper held in the wax like a 3D matrix of sorts, it gets much more difficult to undo then redo the seal.
bb123|5 years ago
akeck|5 years ago
anorakoverflow|5 years ago
[1] http://www.orihouse.com/elfa.html
Animats|5 years ago
cbcrenshaw|5 years ago
dhosek|5 years ago
codazoda|5 years ago
prionassembly|5 years ago
unknown|5 years ago
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