More than 600 years ago, someone left folding, sealing and mailing a letter that was never delivered. Now, scientists have literally “unopened” this and other similarly locked letters, found in a 17th-century coffin in The Hague, using X-rays.
For centuries before sealed envelopes were created, sensory communication was protected from distressed eyes through complex complex techniques known as ‘letter calling’, which transformed a letter into its own secure envelope.
However, locked letters that survive to the present day are fragile and can only be physically opened by cutting them into pieces.
The new X-ray method offers researchers a non-invasive option, maintaining the original complex shape of a letter-letter.
For the first time, scientists applied this method to “locked up” letters from the Renaissance, held in stock that had been in the Dutch postal museum collection. in The Hague, The Netherlands, since 1926.
Computer generated animation of seal letter DB-1538. (Solution History Research Group Archive)
Related: Illustrations: Treasure display of unopened 17th century letters
The contents of the chest contain more than 3,100 undistributed letters, of which 577 were unopened and unlocked. Known as the Brienne Collection, the letters were written in Dutch, English, French, Italian, Latin and Spanish.
For unknown reasons, once the messages reached The Hague they were not delivered to the intended recipients, and were instead held by a postmaster named Simon de Brienne. , Live Science previously reported.
Locked letters used a variety of methods to remain securely enclosed, including folders and rolls; slots and holes; tucks and adhesives; and a variety of smartly built locks, according to a study published online March 2 in the journal Nature Communication.
To access the layers of folded paper, the study authors used an X-ray microtomography scanner that was invented in the dental laboratories at Queen Mary University of London (QMU).
Researchers designed the scanner to be highly sensitive so that it could map the mineral content of teeth, “which is extremely useful in dental research,” said study co-author Graham Davis, QMU professor of imaging X-ray 3D, in statement.
“But this high sensitivity has also made it possible to solve certain types of ink in paper and parchment,” Davis said.
Stock filled with sealed letters. (Solution History Research Group Archive)
“The rest of the team was then able to take our scan images and turn them into letters that they could almost open and read for the first time in over 300 years,” said co. study author David Mills, X-ray microtomography facilities manager at QMU, said in the statement.
From the scans, the team picked up a 3D digital reconstruction of the letters, and then created a computer algorithm that minimized the solemn folding techniques, crease with crease, opening the letters almost “while” retains letter-calling evidence ”, according to the study.
The scientists digitally opened four letters using this innovative method, proving the contents of one letter, DB-1627.
Written on 31 July 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, asked for an official death certificate for someone named Daniel Le Pers, “probably because of a legacy question”, the scientists wrote.
“His request granted, Sennacques then spends the rest of the letter asking for news about the family and praising his cousin to God’s grace,” the authors wrote. we do not know for sure why Le Pers did not receive Sennacques’ letter, but because of merchant travel, it seems that Le Pers had moved on. “
(Solution History Research Group Archive)
Tens of thousands of such sealed documents can now be opened and read virtually, the researchers said.
“This algorithm takes us into the heart of a locked letter,” the research team said in the statement. “Using a spreadsheet is meaningful to reading a close-up story that has never seen the light of day – and has never even the recipient – truly amazing. “
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This article was originally published by Live Science. Read the original article here.