The Brienne Trunk (IMAGE)

Queen Mary University of London

The Brienne Trunk

Caption

A seventeenth-century trunk of letters bequeathed to the Dutch postal museum in The Hague. The trunk belonged to one of the most active postmaster and postmistress of the day, Simon and Marie de Brienne, a couple at the heart of European communication networks. The chest contains an extraordinary archive: 2600 "locked" letters sent from all over Europe to this axis of communication, none of which was never delivered. Sealed letterpackets from this trunk were scanned by X-ray microtomography and "virtually unfolded" to reveal their contents for the first time in centuries.

Credit

Courtesy of the Unlocking History Research Group archive.

Usage Restrictions

None

License

Licensed content

Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.