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Emily Dickinson's Playful Letterlocking

Emily Dickinson used envelopes and seals to turn letters into poetry, layering hidden messages and playful forms.

Dickinson’s letter to her brother Austin, written during her time as a student at Mount Holyoke Female Seminary in South Hadley, Massachusetts, shortly after she turned 17 years old, is a locked letterpacket folded and sealed with that joy. Perhaps these special wafers were like the ones Dickinson used to adhere her own letterpacket (and the envelope into which it was then inserted), embellished with preprinted mottos (popular options at the time included “HOPE DEFERRED” or “STRIKE WHILE THE IRON IS HOT”). Amherst College, Archives and Special CollectionsRead today without knowledge of letterlocking, the letter seems as if it ends “From your aff[ectionate] sister Emily / for you.” In fact, “for you” forms part of an opening message for her brother, produced in combination with the sticker: “I watch and I hope for you.”

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