Renaissance-era letter sealed for centuries just virtually unfolded and read for the first time

Live Science ^ | 03/02/2021 | By Mindy Weisberger -

[BenLurkin]

Computer-generated unfolding animation of sealed letter DB-1538.
(Image credit: Courtesy of the Unlocking History Research Group archive)

[BenLurkin]

ping

[crusty old prospector]

Epstein did not commit suicide.

[Vaquero]

It’s a confession of murder from Lucretia Borgia.

[Jolla]

Drink your Ovaltine

[jerod]

It says... “Don’t forget the milk and butter, and be back before dark”

[BenLurkin]

He should never have refused to drink his Ovaltine.

[PAR35]

a letter that was never delivered. ... this and other similarly locked letters found in a 17th-century trunk in The Hague,

So even 600 years ago, lazy postmen were dumping mail rather than delivering it? I thought that was a more recent innovation.

[grey_whiskers]

I’ll bet it was a late ballot for Biden that they’ll still want to count.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

That reminds me. Rush always said “The Borgias” was one of his favorite TV series. i need to resume watching it.

[baclava]

So they were complaining about the postal service even back then.

Nothing has changed, lol

[Islander7]

All your base are belong to us!

[wrcase]

Was it counted as a vote for Biden/Harris?

[Jamestown1630]

This is fascinating.

[knarf]

DRINK YOUR OVALTINE

[EvilCapitalist]

If you vote for Harris/Biden you’ll be SORRY....

[knarf]

The scientists digitally opened four letters using this groundbreaking method, deciphering the contents of one letter, DB-1627. Penned on July 31, 1697, it was written by a man named Jacques Sennacques to his cousin Pierre Le Pers, who lived in The Hague. Sennacques, a legal professional in Lille, France, requested an official death certificate for a relative named Daniel Le Pers, "perhaps due to a question of inheritance," the scientists wrote.

"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.

[aimhigh]

How dare they print such an article without telling us what the letter says.

[pepsi_junkie]

It’s a vote for Biden. No signature or return address though.

[Georgia Girl 2]

Q sent me. 😏