The Secret Message

The nicks on the characters of the 12 pages are a grill. If you place the rubric over the first page of the gospel, then prick through each of the nicks, they line up with a sequence of characters in the text. This sequence when spelled out holds a message from Gutenberg. It says, basically:

“The great library of Ptolemy is preserved beneath the mountain of the gods in Kommagene of Anatolia. But no man may ever find its entrance unless he find where the moon and the stars meet at the water. Here, fierce warriors guard the ancient treasure. Their religion is none but the saving of the word and by many they are called the fire of the desert. It was here that I learned the art of the book, and here that I made my greatest alchemical work. This secret has been hidden in the black river and preserved at the behest of my most excellent patron and guardian, Dieter von Isenburg; may he live long.”

The Temple Treasure

• 71CE - Titus caries the Temple Treasure from Jerusalem to Rome


• 75CE - Vespasian builds the Temple of Peace in Rome to house the Temple Treasure.


• 455CE - The Vandal King Genseric sacks Rome and carries theTemple Treasure to Carthage


• 533CE - Belisarus, general of Emperor Justinian, recaptures the Temple Treasures when he defeats Carthage and sends them to Byzantium.


• 533CE - Justinian fears the Temple Treasure may bring evil and returns it to the Christian Churches in Jerusalem


• 614CE - Persians sack Jerusalem, kill the inhabitants and destroy the Christian Churches


• 631CE - Abbot Modestus restores the holy places in Jerusalem and becomes Patriarch of Jerusalem

Gelimer of Carthage entrusted the treasure to the scribe Boniface, a Libyan and native of Byzacium. Trapped in harbor at Hippo Regius, Boniface struck a deal with Belisarus to transfer the treasure to him.

A Jew, seeing the treasure, approached one known to the emperor and said, "These treasures I think it inexpedient to carry into the palace in Byzantium. Indeed it is not possible for them to be elsewhere than in the place where Solomon, the king of the Jews, formerly placed them. For it is because of these that Gizeric captured the palace of the Romans, and that now the Roman army has captured the Vandals."
Procopius (545CE) "History of the Wars"

Stuff about ink

From 40 Centuries of Ink by David N. Varvalho.

Hebrew word for ink is "deyo," prepared for ritualistic purposes for 2000 years - powdered charcoal or soot mixed with water to which gum was sometimes added.

Arabian word for ink was "alchiber," used lampblack, made by burning oil, tar, or rosin, then comingled with gum and honey and pressed into cakes. Water added when it was wanted for use.

More backstory

I think I've resolved the question of how/why Gutenberg gets involved with th eDjinn. There has long been a question regarding what Gutenberg's real role was in the invention of printing as it was used in Mainz. So, let's put pieces together.

1. The issues of printing included
   • typedesign & molding
   • dimensionally stable metal alloy
   • press
   • paper supply
   • ink


2. At one point or another, Gutenberg has been credited with the invention of all these except paper. I'm going with the theory that even though he was experimenting with various forms of printing at least ten years before the Bible, his only real contribution was the alloy.


3. In 1440, we have a secret organization that has been protecting the library of Alexendria for 1700 years. It includes a caste of librarians who are charged with duplicating the texts because they would naturally deteriorate over that period of time. Since they continue to gather the writings of cultures all over the world, they have encountered various forms of printing, both woodcut, engraving, and movable type. So, it stands to reason that they would have also experimented with printing for the preservation of books.


4. The Djinn have realized long ago that they are inadequate for the job of preserving all the books of the world, so early in the first millenium (at least by 400 C.E.) they had infiltrated the Christian monastic system to recruit more copyists. At first the scriptora copied only Judeo-Christian texts, but as the system expanded, various classics were introduced for copying.


5. The Djinn also realize by the 15th century that the body of written work is expanding more rapidly than they can collect and preserve. So by the early 1400s, they are actively seeking ways to expand and de-centralize the library and principle of preservation. They decide to promote printing as one method of doing this (the creation and expansion of libraries is another) but the Djinn copyists are unhappy with the quality of the works. While looking into the method of expanding, they discover the alchemist Johannes Gutenberg. They engage him to develop a dimensionally stable alloy and in return for his services, they take him to the library to train in the other aspects of printing. These are the missing years in Gutenberg's life between the mid-1430s and 40s.


6. When Johannes returns from Turkey, he is filled with a vision and sets about to fund a printshop. It is possible that he was ejected from the Djinn because of some inadequacy, which is why he had to seek funding for his operation in Mainz. Because he is not a fabulous artist, his first typeface is large and is used to print indulgences. He sets an initial page or two of The Bible to try to get funding and also attracts a yount artistic talent named Peter Schoeffer. Schoeffer designs and cuts the 42-line type, and gradually takes over the printing business as Gutenberg becomes more absorbed in recreating his journey to the library. He shares his story only with his friend and priest, Dieter von Isenburg, who encourages Honnes to record and conceal the information. This ultimately leads to the rift with Johan Fust and the resulting suit.


7. In order to survive, Gutenberg sells his original type molds for the 36-line Bible and instructs the owner in Bamberg on how to set up the printshop. He even assists in the printing of the 36-line prior to 1460. When he is exiled from Mainz in 1462, he returns to Bamberg and, the print-run having been finished, he prints the rubric, concealing in it the secret location of the Djinn and their incredible library. He dissassembles his own family Bible from the wealthy Wyrich clan that was given to him by his mother. He re-assembles it with the printed gospels from the Bamberg Bible along with the personal memorial page of his grandparents, and re-binds it in the original binding, using the rubric for inside cover padding.


8. When Gutenberg returns to Mainz, he once again goes to Dieter. Dieter has been suplanted by Adolf of Nassau, but has been retained in Adolf's court. Gutenberg gives Dieter the family Gospel and tells him the secret is hidden in the Black River. Dieter sets Johannes up with Hummery and begins his plea with the Archbishop Adolf to recognize Johannes for his contributions, resulting in Adolf pensioning gutenberg in 1465.


9. Gutenberg dies in 1468 and Hummery inherits everything he owned. In 1476, after the death of Adolf, Dieter is restored to the archbishopric of Mainz. He contacts Hummery and gives him the family Gospel, telling him that Gutenberg's secret is hidden in the Black River. Hummery, now a master in the Guild of Alchemists and Typesetters, uses the Guild to pass down the symbols and legend of the Black River, but doesn't pass on the Gospel because he sees it as just a part of what he inherited, and not related to the mystery. The Gospel is passed down, lost, and eventually comes to America where it is donated to the LDS library in 1983. No one knows what it contains until Peter and Maddie discover it on their visit, all because Peter's alias - Bjorn Wyrich - is mentioned in a search of the family name as being in a family Bible at LDS.

A little more alchemy

I still need a small alchemical detail worked out. I need to know the formula for lead type. I hope I can look it up. If not, I would need the volume by weight of the three metals (lead, tin, antimony) when liquid and when solid. With those numbers, I should be able to determine the % of each that is needed to create a dimensionally stable alloy.

I'm pretty sure how to do this with Antimony and either one of the other metals:
aV₁T + bV₁A = aV₂T + bV₂A where a and b are the percentage or number of units and V₁T is the volume of tin when liquid per unit and V₂T is the volume of tin when solid per unit. V₁A is the volume of antimony per unit when liquid and V₂A is the volume of antimony per unit when solid.

Then I compute the same formula for Lead and Antimony. Once I have two dimensionally stable alloys, a 50/50 mix of the two alloys should result in a third dimensionally stable alloy of all three metals. So, for example, if the ratio of Tin to Antimony is 3:1 and the ratio of lead to Antimony is 5:1, then the total formula would be 3 parts tin, 5 parts Lead, and 2 parts Antimony. I'd like to see how close the actual formula is to the previously solved formula for a 3 part alloy that is equal inweight per volume to Silver (.803005305cm³ Lead + .105459050cm³ Tin + <.091535645cm³ Antimony result result in 1 cm³ alloy equal in weight to 1 cm³ Silver.

Idea for a movie

Here's a quick idea for a movie script I'm thinking of and don't want to forget. It's called "The Story Not Told." The concept is that there is a pretty good and clear noire detective story -- in fact I might even set it in the 40s or 50s. It's a first person narrative with voice-over. We follow the detective as he pieces together his puzzle, but in almost every shot there is a different cast acting out a completely different story in the background. Some of the characters overlap, so they come into focus as part of the story the detective is telling, but the untold story is unfolding in the background and in the wasted scenes of most movies. It is the people passing in the park, kissing in a doorway, seen at the hospital, or in the bar, and at the police station. So the key will be to have the other story unfold completely and with a full resolution without any scenes or dialog actually attributed to it. Yeah!