Computer-generated unfolding animation of sealed letter DB-1538.
(Image credit: Courtesy of the Unlocking History Research Group archive)
Posted on 03/02/2021 4:04:54 PM PST by BenLurkin
More than 600 years ago, someone intricately folded, sealed and posted a letter that was never delivered. Now, scientists have digitally "unfolded" this and other similarly locked letters found in a 17th-century trunk in The Hague, using X-rays.
For centuries prior to the invention of sealed envelopes, sensitive correspondence was protected from prying eyes through complex folding techniques called "letterlocking," which transformed a letter into its own secure envelope. However, locked letters that survive to the present are fragile and can be opened physically only by slicing them to pieces.
The new X-ray method offers researchers a non-invasive alternative, maintaining a letterpacket's original folded shape. For the first time, scientists applied this method to "locked" letters from the Renaissance period, kept in a trunk that had been in the collection of the Dutch postal museum in The Hague, The Netherlands, since 1926.
Locked letters used different mechanisms to stay securely closed, including folds and rolls; slits and holes; tucks and adhesives; and a variety of cleverly constructed locks, according to a study published online March 2 in the journal Nature Communications.
To penetrate the layers of folded paper, the study authors used an X‐ray microtomography scanner engineered in the dental research labs at Queen Mary University of London (QMU). Researchers designed the scanner to be exceptionally sensitive so that it could map the mineral content of teeth, "which is invaluable in dental research," study co-author Graham Davis, a QMU professor of 3D X-ray imaging, said in a statement.
(Excerpt) Read more at livescience.com ...
ping
Epstein did not commit suicide.
It’s a confession of murder from Lucretia Borgia.
Drink your Ovaltine
It says... “Don’t forget the milk and butter, and be back before dark”
He should never have refused to drink his Ovaltine.
So even 600 years ago, lazy postmen were dumping mail rather than delivering it? I thought that was a more recent innovation.
I’ll bet it was a late ballot for Biden that they’ll still want to count.
That reminds me. Rush always said “The Borgias” was one of his favorite TV series. i need to resume watching it.
So they were complaining about the postal service even back then.
Nothing has changed, lol
All your base are belong to us!
Was it counted as a vote for Biden/Harris?
This is fascinating.
DRINK YOUR OVALTINE
If you vote for Harris/Biden you’ll be SORRY....
"His request issued, Sennacques then spends the rest of the letter asking for news of the family and commending his cousin to the graces of God," the authors wrote. "We do not know exactly why Le Pers did not receive Sennacques' letter, but given the itinerancy of merchants, it is likely that Le Pers had moved on." Tens of thousands of such sealed documents can now be unfolded and read virtually, the researchers reported.
How dare they print such an article without telling us what the letter says.
It’s a vote for Biden. No signature or return address though.
Q sent me. 😏
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.