05 March 2009
| The Testament | Gutenberg's Other Book |
| Bravo/Jenny: She was his father's lover?? They fall in love/have sex He thinks she must be the traitor | Peter/Maddie: She was raised to be his match They fall in love/have sex She is (unwittingly) the traitor |
| Bravo/Jordan: Best Friends Jordan is using him On opposite sides | Peter/The Voice: Enemies from the start Peter doesn't know who he is Has a hold on Maddie |
| Observatines/Knights: Started by the church Secularized Competing for the same cache of info | Gutenbergs/Aldines: Two competing guils Secular with religious rituals Competing for the same cache |
| The Testament of Jesus Christ and the quintessence that shows Jesus was human and not divine and can give immortality to a person | The Library of Alexandria containing the Wisdom of Ptolemy showing the origin of the Jinn and casting doubt on Islam |
Gee. Can you do that?
Where I want to go with "Gutenberg's Other Book:" More intellectual, less life threatening. I'd be just as happy if there wasn't a body count. Peter and Maddie will never kill anyone. Peter and Maddie are not trained in hand-to-hand combat. They really only have their wits. No superpowers. No eidetic memory. No savant code-breaking ability. They are scholars who may have to fight for their lives, but they just have to be clever about it. They do have the ability to use alternate identities.
They have the power of the press. They may need to exploit their ability to print or have things printed.
There are two rival secret societies that will surface. Peter is a member of one. Maddie may be a member or at least a pawn of the other. Maddie has been trained from childhood to be everything that Peter wants. He is everything that she wants. She betrays him -- accidentally or through conflicted loyalties. They have to be separated and get back together at a critical moment.
The treasure is different, but the same. I'll probably abandon the quest for the alchemical powder that enables the making of the Philosopher's Stone that van Lustbader calls the quintessence. The particular scroll they are after does hold alchemical secrets, but the real crux is that it will somehow change our perception of reality. First, it does or may hold content that casts doubt on both the New Testament and the Quran. Second, it shows the establishment of the Jinn. And third it gives a version of the fall (Adam & Eve) that makes it obvious that there is another power at work in the universe. Whether it is supernatural, alien, or alchemical, I don't know yet.
Peter/Robert: Policeman tailing Peter
Peter is oblivious of him
Robert turns out to be his savior
Probably some spoilers here if you are planning to read "The Testament" run along now.
First let me say I'm enjoying the read because I like a thriller and van Lustbader knows how to write them. His book, "The Testament," has a lot of similarities to the concept I've been describing in my posts this year about "Gutenberg's Other Book." An ancient book, scroll, or fragment, is of high interest because it could give some person or persons unlimited power of some sort. So, as I read it, I am trying to carefully pick out the differences and similarities. It's pretty easy to get caught up in the story and ignore what gets you involved.
Von Lustbader knows how to write a thriller. We have the element of starting off with a secret message and having the one person who knows everything killed. From there on, we have a constant chase with a fight, a death, a near-death, another death, or a crisis in every chapter as the hero is drawn deeper and deeper into the plot, against his will.
Second, there is the hero and his partner. Both are highly skilled and trained for rugged survival and for breaking codes and ciphers. It helps that Bravo, like Robert Langdon in "The DaVinci Code," has an eidetic memory and never has to write anything down. So, we have a hero who is initiated into a religious sect. He has highly honed physical combat and survival skills, can break any cipher or code, and remembers everything. His partner is a woman with which there is a strong sexual magnetism. She is already a member of the sect, trained even more in combat than he is because she is his guardian. She is strong and competent while at the same time exhibiting uncertainty and emotional fragility. Both have potentially damaging secrets in their pasts.
Next, there is the element of time. The hero has to find the secret cache and protect it before the bad guys find it and use it for evil. Triggered by an impending death of the pope. The bad guys know that only the hero can find the cache in time, so they manipulate him to ever greater speed. This ignores the concept that they would be better off not looking for the cache so they wouldn't lead the enemy to it.
So, mapping out the basics we have
More in Part 2.
First let me say I'm enjoying the read because I like a thriller and van Lustbader knows how to write them. His book, "The Testament," has a lot of similarities to the concept I've been describing in my posts this year about "Gutenberg's Other Book." An ancient book, scroll, or fragment, is of high interest because it could give some person or persons unlimited power of some sort. So, as I read it, I am trying to carefully pick out the differences and similarities. It's pretty easy to get caught up in the story and ignore what gets you involved.
Von Lustbader knows how to write a thriller. We have the element of starting off with a secret message and having the one person who knows everything killed. From there on, we have a constant chase with a fight, a death, a near-death, another death, or a crisis in every chapter as the hero is drawn deeper and deeper into the plot, against his will.
Second, there is the hero and his partner. Both are highly skilled and trained for rugged survival and for breaking codes and ciphers. It helps that Bravo, like Robert Langdon in "The DaVinci Code," has an eidetic memory and never has to write anything down. So, we have a hero who is initiated into a religious sect. He has highly honed physical combat and survival skills, can break any cipher or code, and remembers everything. His partner is a woman with which there is a strong sexual magnetism. She is already a member of the sect, trained even more in combat than he is because she is his guardian. She is strong and competent while at the same time exhibiting uncertainty and emotional fragility. Both have potentially damaging secrets in their pasts.
Next, there is the element of time. The hero has to find the secret cache and protect it before the bad guys find it and use it for evil. Triggered by an impending death of the pope. The bad guys know that only the hero can find the cache in time, so they manipulate him to ever greater speed. This ignores the concept that they would be better off not looking for the cache so they wouldn't lead the enemy to it.
So, mapping out the basics we have
| Observatines | Knights | Vatican |
| Bravo & Jenny | Jordan & Camille | Cardinal/Pope |
| Male & Female dichotomy | Knights/Church split | Deathbed |
| A traitor in their midst | Independence movement | Threat to doctrine |
| A murdered father & other dead guys | Lots of dead guys | |
| Manipulating the world for good with information | Wanting world domination & immortality |
28 February 2009
"If he in his folly of mind undertakes measures contrary to the honor of the gods and attempts to ravage this hierothesion, may he - even without my curse - suffer the full wrath of the gods." - Antiochus
Kommagene is on the western shore of the Euphrates. It was first a land of the Hittites and then the Persians. Kommagene became an independent kingdom in 163 BCE. It had lots ofiron mines and was of high strategic value. The king fortified Samosata on the shores of the Euphrates as his capital, making it the most important point on the Euphrates. When the Attaturk Dam was built, the site was flooded.
About 70 B.C. Antiochus was crowned king at Mt. Nemrud - apparently while his faterh was still alive. about 69 BCE, Armenia defeated Pergamum and left Kommagene between the Roman and Parthian Empires. Zayuma on the Euphrates was given to Antiochus by Pompeii. From 62-36 BCE, the kingdom under Antiochus enjoyed peace and calm, enabling him to complete the massive monument on Mt. Nemrud. He built a nationwide cult reform portraying himself as a fellow of the gods. It was designed to homogenize the population between the east and west.
Picoras of Parthia crossed the Euphrates to invade Rome. Antiochus joined his son-in-law Picoras and Marc Anthony marched on Samosata. Archers (and black clad calvary???) picked off the Romans and defeated Marc Anthony. Antiochus gave Anthony 100 talents of silver as a consolation prize and Anthony retreated with what was left of his army. By 32 BC, Mithrodates II was on the throne.
in 72 CE, Emperor Vespasian annexed Kommagene and made it a part of Syria call Euphrasia.
These notes were gleaned from the movie Mount Nemrud The Throne of the Gods.
According to archeologist Teresa Goell's topographic map, surveyed by H. Brokamp in 1953-56, the mountain is pretty broad. The depth of the structure would be pretty impervious to showing up on the soundings they took inthe 90s.
Please follow link to http://www.learningsites.com.
The soundings discovered two or three (a little uncertain how the readings correlate) hollow spots according to the movie Mt. Nemrud, Throne of the Gods. One is high in the tumulus. The second is 45 feet below the west terrace. Archealogists have speculated that the upper may be the burial chamber and the lower might be some sort of reservoir or drainage basin.
IMHO, from the pictures, if the upper is the burial chamber, then it was designed to be found if someone decided to dig in the tumulus. Of course, finding the chamber whould end excavation, thus protecting anything further down. If the second anomally is a reservoir, then what does it serve, other than as a year-round source of water for those deep in the rock.
I believe that there is probably no one left living in the library now. It has been 500 years since Gutenberg, and he may have brought the last bit of technology needed to complete the copyists' task.
Please follow link to http://www.learningsites.com.
The soundings discovered two or three (a little uncertain how the readings correlate) hollow spots according to the movie Mt. Nemrud, Throne of the Gods. One is high in the tumulus. The second is 45 feet below the west terrace. Archealogists have speculated that the upper may be the burial chamber and the lower might be some sort of reservoir or drainage basin.
IMHO, from the pictures, if the upper is the burial chamber, then it was designed to be found if someone decided to dig in the tumulus. Of course, finding the chamber whould end excavation, thus protecting anything further down. If the second anomally is a reservoir, then what does it serve, other than as a year-round source of water for those deep in the rock.
I believe that there is probably no one left living in the library now. It has been 500 years since Gutenberg, and he may have brought the last bit of technology needed to complete the copyists' task.
Is the rubble that makes up the tumulus at the top of Mt. Nemrud nothing more than what it took to level the top of the mountain and then pile up the dome? We have no record of what the mountain looked like before construction began. A few miles east and slightly north, near Lake Van, there is a second Mt. Nemrud that is an active volcano, last erupted in the mid 1600s. It is over 9,500 feet tall. It has a flat top with a caldera lake in it. What if the Throne of the Gods Mt. Nemrud was also fairly flat, even a caldera of some couple of hundred feet in depth. A great pyramid was built in it, actually excavated another two or three hundred feet deep. As the sloping sides of the pyramid were built, the rubble was piled up outside. The volume of the tumulus is equal to the volume of the rock removed to build the pyramid and to level the rim of the caldera.
I suppose it would be a pretty unbelivable feat of engineering to build a pyramid underground. It would be an easier digging feat to invert the pyramid, but that would necessitate building a roof that would support the tumulus. On the other hand, combining the two concepts might work. You dig down to an incredible depth and build the inverted pyramid, then build the regular pyramid on top of it.
Okay, so the biggest problem with this is that you have to quarry the entire excavation first and then build inside it. Why? You'd have to store allt he blocks of stone and then lower them back into the hole tobuild the structure, back-filling as you go.
There is really no reason that the project would need to take any less effort than the building of the pyramids and sphinx of Egypt. In fact, it could leave even less trace of local inhabitation than the pyramids due to its remoteness. The labor could have come from any number of sources for slaves.
In ~36 BCE, Antiochus was strong enough that he could repel the Roman army led by Marc Anthony. A hundred years later, in 72 CE, the Romans marched through Komagene with scarcely any resistance, and did not even know about the Throne of the Gods. Suppose the difference was the state of the concealment of the resting place of the library, designed by Ptolemy I. The move would have been executed by Ptolemy VIII, father of Cleopatra before Caesar & Pompei came to Egypt. Antiochus negotiated with Pompei, avoided Caesar, and defeated Marc Anthony.
The next problem, whatever the engineering feat, is that there has to be a continuing opening or access to the structure underground that enables the use of the library after the top of the mountain was sealed. Somehow the location has to have been disclosed to Gutenberg in order for him to have concealed it in the map and in the printers' marks. I'm thinking that the access point is several miles away, near the Euphrates. They need water and access to food.
So, some thousands of laborers over a period of one to three centuries, excavate a mountain, quarry the building stone, build an underground pyramid, backfill it with rubble and bury a king on top of it so that should it ever be excavated the burial champer would be found and no further excavation attempted, all without being noticed or investigated by anyone who survived to tell about it. And for two thousand years since then, a cult has lived in the structure, preserving the documents and guarding the mountain against discovery. -- Easy!
I suppose it would be a pretty unbelivable feat of engineering to build a pyramid underground. It would be an easier digging feat to invert the pyramid, but that would necessitate building a roof that would support the tumulus. On the other hand, combining the two concepts might work. You dig down to an incredible depth and build the inverted pyramid, then build the regular pyramid on top of it.
Okay, so the biggest problem with this is that you have to quarry the entire excavation first and then build inside it. Why? You'd have to store allt he blocks of stone and then lower them back into the hole tobuild the structure, back-filling as you go.
There is really no reason that the project would need to take any less effort than the building of the pyramids and sphinx of Egypt. In fact, it could leave even less trace of local inhabitation than the pyramids due to its remoteness. The labor could have come from any number of sources for slaves.
In ~36 BCE, Antiochus was strong enough that he could repel the Roman army led by Marc Anthony. A hundred years later, in 72 CE, the Romans marched through Komagene with scarcely any resistance, and did not even know about the Throne of the Gods. Suppose the difference was the state of the concealment of the resting place of the library, designed by Ptolemy I. The move would have been executed by Ptolemy VIII, father of Cleopatra before Caesar & Pompei came to Egypt. Antiochus negotiated with Pompei, avoided Caesar, and defeated Marc Anthony.
The next problem, whatever the engineering feat, is that there has to be a continuing opening or access to the structure underground that enables the use of the library after the top of the mountain was sealed. Somehow the location has to have been disclosed to Gutenberg in order for him to have concealed it in the map and in the printers' marks. I'm thinking that the access point is several miles away, near the Euphrates. They need water and access to food.
So, some thousands of laborers over a period of one to three centuries, excavate a mountain, quarry the building stone, build an underground pyramid, backfill it with rubble and bury a king on top of it so that should it ever be excavated the burial champer would be found and no further excavation attempted, all without being noticed or investigated by anyone who survived to tell about it. And for two thousand years since then, a cult has lived in the structure, preserving the documents and guarding the mountain against discovery. -- Easy!
26 February 2009
In order to protect the accumulated knowledge of the world, no one who enters the library since it left Alexandria has ever been allowed to leave. For that reason, Gutenberg was allowed access to only a few manuscripts so he could teach the art of printing. The map he took away was done in secret. That will also make it difficult for Peter and Maddie to leave once they have gained access. It is only through the attack on the location by their antagonist and the help of the detective that they manage to escape. The Jinn are destroyed as well as the entrance to the library. Everyone and everything is sealed inside.
It's possible that they are kidnapped. They are probably taken into the library as prisoners who have been kiidnapped. They think they have been captured by thePKK, but it is actually the Jinn. Instead of finding the route in, they are literally dragged in. Does that work?
It's possible that they are kidnapped. They are probably taken into the library as prisoners who have been kiidnapped. They think they have been captured by thePKK, but it is actually the Jinn. Instead of finding the route in, they are literally dragged in. Does that work?
23 February 2009
It is difficult to weave the backstory of the Library of Alexandria in without actually being there. In other words, having people tell each other what they know about it in the book would be less effective that having chapters set in that time. I should consider flashbacks to various historic periods, like Ptolemy's. This seems to work well as in intro to Van Lustbader's The Testament, but I think he uses it only as a prologue. I have in mind taking it through the centuries, gradually. So there would be a scene of Ptolemy discussing his desire to have 500,000 scrolls in his library and how he intended to use the Jinn to protect them. Then there might be a scene of the Pergtamum Library and the endeavor to get the Aristotle books. Next a scene of Caesar burning Alexandria. Then the Carthoginians sacking Rome. We would get Justinian bringing the Temple Treasure to Constantinople. Somewhere, of course we need the building of the monument on Mt. Nemrud, the Ottoman takeover of Istanbul, and ultimately Gutenberg's trip and assignment. There should also be a scene of the Aldusians.
I'm thinking I should scatter these scenes throughout the book. That will give me a sense of the historicity of the piece and will also allow me to follow the Jinn and how they go about gathering and moving the scrolls. They have actually been guarding the library for 2400 years.
So, I'm thinking that my first bit of this backstory would come after the first explosion. I need to gain some perspective, but I don't like the idea of making it a prologue.
Luciano Canfora's book, The Vanished Library (University of California Press, 1989), is a great resource and survey of the extant documents that talk about the library and a historical perspective through about 10 centuries. It's fascinating reading if you get a chance.
I'm thinking I should scatter these scenes throughout the book. That will give me a sense of the historicity of the piece and will also allow me to follow the Jinn and how they go about gathering and moving the scrolls. They have actually been guarding the library for 2400 years.
So, I'm thinking that my first bit of this backstory would come after the first explosion. I need to gain some perspective, but I don't like the idea of making it a prologue.
Luciano Canfora's book, The Vanished Library (University of California Press, 1989), is a great resource and survey of the extant documents that talk about the library and a historical perspective through about 10 centuries. It's fascinating reading if you get a chance.
19 February 2009
Here's an idea on how I could incorporate the Jinn without slipping into Urban Fantasy. I decided that was really what separated Indiana Jones from The DaVinci Code. Each Indiana Jones movie has had an ultra-sensory experience. We had the magical properties of the lost Ark, some guy who could coax your heart out of your chest, the Holy Grail's healing powers, and finally, an alien spaceship. DaVinci Code had the last descendant of Jesus, but nothing supernatural about that.
So, the fire spirit references to the Jinn are used to establish a framework, but they never come on the scene to either save the day or ruin things. Instead, there is an elite cadre of guards, equivalent to the Templar Knights, who are direct descendants of say, the saracens. This very small and elite group take their name from the Jinn, whom they revere. For nearly sex centuries (or more) they have guarded and protected the tomb at Nemrud and the library hidden beneath it.
Do they want to keep it hidden? Or are they waiting for the right person to come along to open it and return it to the world? Perhaps the person who connects the marks will be the one they give control to.
This kind of loyal, dedicated squad probably has to get wiped out in order to complete the story. They become the last of the Jinn.
Need research on what the ancestry is, how long they've been at Nimrud, perhaps descendants of the king's personal guard. Need more info.
So, the fire spirit references to the Jinn are used to establish a framework, but they never come on the scene to either save the day or ruin things. Instead, there is an elite cadre of guards, equivalent to the Templar Knights, who are direct descendants of say, the saracens. This very small and elite group take their name from the Jinn, whom they revere. For nearly sex centuries (or more) they have guarded and protected the tomb at Nemrud and the library hidden beneath it.
Do they want to keep it hidden? Or are they waiting for the right person to come along to open it and return it to the world? Perhaps the person who connects the marks will be the one they give control to.
This kind of loyal, dedicated squad probably has to get wiped out in order to complete the story. They become the last of the Jinn.
Need research on what the ancestry is, how long they've been at Nimrud, perhaps descendants of the king's personal guard. Need more info.
18 February 2009
Ultrasonic vibrations can be very tightly focused and directed. They can create heat almost like a microwave. When directed at one item, they can transfer through items that it touches. We might be able to heat the glass with the sound waves as well, or even use a microwave transmission.
17 February 2009
I have new information and don't yet know what to do with it. It has to do with the Jinn. Jinn are the spirits that Allah created out of fire before he created man. Not really demons, they can become Moslems and will enter heaven on the day of resurrection or enter hell.
Jinn also play a part in Moslem Alchemy. This might be why the one Moslem who succeeded in the quest for the philosopher's stone, then walked away from it. Ptolemy was supposed to be able to summon the fire spirits as well, though in Egypt in general the Jinn weren't really acknowledged until Islam.
Among the responsibilities of the Jinn is guarding the tomb. Some of the more powerful - Afreets - are also said to haunt graveyards, gnawing on the bones of the dead. Marids - the most powerful Jinn - cause great damage and mischief, even physical injury.
So I have a king's tomb at Nemrud. That is where the library has been moved. Ptolemy's book is in the library. Do the Jinn guard both the tomb and the libarary that contain the secrets of how to use them for Alchemy?
The real question is whether I want to let the story enter the metaphysical realms and treat both Alchemy and Jinn as real things that might be encountered on this adventure?
Jinn also play a part in Moslem Alchemy. This might be why the one Moslem who succeeded in the quest for the philosopher's stone, then walked away from it. Ptolemy was supposed to be able to summon the fire spirits as well, though in Egypt in general the Jinn weren't really acknowledged until Islam.
Among the responsibilities of the Jinn is guarding the tomb. Some of the more powerful - Afreets - are also said to haunt graveyards, gnawing on the bones of the dead. Marids - the most powerful Jinn - cause great damage and mischief, even physical injury.
So I have a king's tomb at Nemrud. That is where the library has been moved. Ptolemy's book is in the library. Do the Jinn guard both the tomb and the libarary that contain the secrets of how to use them for Alchemy?
The real question is whether I want to let the story enter the metaphysical realms and treat both Alchemy and Jinn as real things that might be encountered on this adventure?
15 February 2009
What is Maddie's secret? How is The Voice able to control her? I'm struggling to find her in all of this. Some of the ideas that I'm testing include
I desperately want her to be innocent, but I know that Peter at one point will believe she is the enemy. I think Maddie was raised by a booklover, whether The Voice or not. She was a subscriber to Grandpa's magazine, which means she's about the same age as Peter. (He could be younger than I thought since I don't think DTP will enter into the story after all.)
She definitely learned her love of ancient manuscripts and desire to study printing from the magazine. She was pretty punk as a teen and into college. The rituals of the guild appealed to her on a goth or punk level.
Does she have a fairly normal family life? Is one parent a kind of stepchild to the guild who fills her head with stories that she later uses to gain admittance? There are really only a few things I can think of that would motivate her.
- The Voice is her father.
- The Voice is holding her son/daughter hostage.
- She is complicit with The Board (and The Voice) and is a willing participant hoping to get the secret for herself.
- She followed the teachings of grandpa but fell in with the wrong group.
- She was raised to be a foil to Peter and then unleashed.
I desperately want her to be innocent, but I know that Peter at one point will believe she is the enemy. I think Maddie was raised by a booklover, whether The Voice or not. She was a subscriber to Grandpa's magazine, which means she's about the same age as Peter. (He could be younger than I thought since I don't think DTP will enter into the story after all.)
She definitely learned her love of ancient manuscripts and desire to study printing from the magazine. She was pretty punk as a teen and into college. The rituals of the guild appealed to her on a goth or punk level.
Does she have a fairly normal family life? Is one parent a kind of stepchild to the guild who fills her head with stories that she later uses to gain admittance? There are really only a few things I can think of that would motivate her.
- she has family, maybe child,, that is at risk if she doesn't obey
- She cheated on her dissertation and would be ruined if she were found out
- She committed some crime and will be sent to prison if it is discovered
- An abusive former boyfriend or husband is somehow manipulating her
- She is part of a truly insane religious cult
- She fled an Islamic country and will be returned to a man she was married to at age 10
13 February 2009
It turns out that Mt. Nemrut might be the best location. It is a popular toursit attraction built to honor the goodness of a king and his special relationship with the gods. It has lots of broken statues. It's 7,000 feet in altitude. It doesn't require special permission to get into and is fairly isolated from the war zones. It would be easy to have symbols hidden among the ruins that would guide them to the secret entrance to the library which would be underground where the king is buried. In fact, the origin of the marks might be in the site. I've already verified Star, Crescent, and Pyramid. A deep earthquake caused by the sound generator that breaks all the glass would entomb the library and anyone in it permanently.
Nemrut Dag (Mt Nemrud) is a mountain measuring 2,150meters in height. It is located near the village of Karadut in Kahta county in the province of Adiyaman. Kings of the Kommagene dynasty from 80 B.C. to 72 A.D ruled Adiyaman and its vicinity. This kingdom, whose capital was Samosata (now called Samsat), was founded around 80 B.C. by Mithridates 1, father of Antiochos 1.http://www.adiyamanli.org/mt_nemrut.htm.
The kingdom's independence came to an end with its defeat by Roman legions in the last of the Kommagene wars and it became part of the Roman province of Syria. At its height, Kommagene extended from the Toros (Taurus) mountains on the north to the Firat (Euphrates) river on the east and southeast, to present-day Gaziantep on the south, and to the county of Pazarcik in Kahramanmaras on the west. The magnificent ruins on the summit of Mt Nemrud are not those of an inhabited site however. They are instead the famous tumulus (burial mound) and hierotheseion (a word that is derived from Greek and refers to the sacred burial precinct of the royal family, and whose use is known only in Kommagene) of King Antiochos I of Kommagene, who ruled from 69 to 36 B.C.
In a cult inscription, King Antiochos declares that he had the site built for the ages and generations that were to follow him "as a debt of thanks to the gods and to his deified ancestors for their manifest assistance". The king also declares that his aim was to provide for the people an "example of the piety that the gods commanded be shown towards the gods and towards ancestors.
"Professor K. Dorner has traced the genealogy of Antiochos 1, who was himself born of a Persian father and a Seleucid-Macedonian mother. His findings indicate that Antiochos I of Commagene claimed descent, through his father Mithridates, from Dareios (Darius) 1 (522-486 B.C.) and, through his mother Laodike, from Alexander the Great (356-323 B.C.)
Mt Nemrud is located 100 kms from Adiyaman. No reference is made to it in ancient sources. Karl Sester, a German road engineer, rediscovered it in modern times in 1881. An expedition to Mt Nemrud was organized in 1882-83 by Karl Humann and Otto Puchstein, who published their findings in a book entitled Reisen in Kleinasien und Nordsyrien (Berlin 1890). Osman Hamdi Bey and Osgan Effendi also investigated the site in 1883 and their findings were published in a book entitled Le Tumulus de Nemroud Dagh (Istanbul 1883). F. Karl Dorner and Rudolf Naumann mounted an expedition to Mt Nemrud in 1938. Dorner returned to the site after 1951 and began working there with the US researcher Teresa Goell.
In 1984, a Turkish-German team led by Professor Dorner successfully carried out restoration work at the site. Excavation and restoration work has been continuing since 1989 under the direction of Sencer Sahin. In 1989, Nemrut Dag and its environs were declared a national park. The tumulus on the summit of Mt Nemrud measures 50 meters high and covers an area 150 meters in diameter. It is formed from stones the size of a fist and is bounded on the east, west, and north by terraced courts carved out of the native rock. The eastern court was the center of the sacred precinct and is the most important group of sculptural and architectural works. It is surrounded on the west by colossal statues, on the east by a fire altar in the shape of a stepped pyramid, and on the north and south by low walls of orthostats (upright stone slabs) standing on a long, narrow base.
12 February 2009
Getting to a known location might be easier than picking a random cave in SE Turkey. Say for example, Mt. Ararat. You could also have a Biblical clue from Genesis for that. Then the map might be of just the mountain with the symbols hidden to mark the route. No additional borders to cross either.
ANSWER:
ANSWER:
- Great info on State Department Web site on traveling in Turkey. Quite dangerous. Lots of terrorist attacks. Recommends only flying not driving or public transportation. Go out only during day. Southeast and Ararat are the most dangerous areas.
11 February 2009
The detective's name is Robert Allen. While that sounds quite English, he is actually of Kurdish ancestry. In the areas of Kurdish Turkey or Iraq, the name would be Robar Alan. His Kurdish ancestry will work both for and against him. He may run into immigration problems upon entering Turkey, but th econsulate will halp him there. In Kurdistan, he may run into relatives.
Actually getting into Kurdistan might create problems for Peter as well. It is a war zone. The Kurds are fighting for independence. Turkey has renewed its authorization to attack separatist outposts in Iraq. The Kurds extend into Iran as well.
Questions:
Actually getting into Kurdistan might create problems for Peter as well. It is a war zone. The Kurds are fighting for independence. Turkey has renewed its authorization to attack separatist outposts in Iraq. The Kurds extend into Iran as well.
Questions:
- If I wanted to follow the Silk Road from Istanbul to China, what Visas and permissions would I have to have?
- Does the Silk Road map to any regular auto routes across Turkey and Iran today?
- What would be the best mode of transportation to get from Istanbul to the Iran border?
- What would be the most likely sect to be guarding the ancient scrolls? Sufi? Zorastrian? Christian? Sunni? Shiite? Other?
- Now that we have the symbols, what do they mean and how are they used?
10 February 2009
Here is a great reference from Project Gutenberg on Printers' Marks.
The Project Gutenberg EBook of Printers' Marks, by William Roberts
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net
Title: Printers' Marks
A Chapter in the History of Typography
Author: William Roberts
Release Date: June 1, 2008 [EBook #25663]
Language: English
Character set encoding: UTF-8
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PRINTERS' MARKS ***
Produced by Louise Hope, Stephen Hope and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
file was produced from images generously made available
by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
If I've correctly interpreted the publication date, it is 1893. He seems to have much more interest in later or "contemporary" marks than in the incunabula, but there is a fair share of those as well. It is an interesting read with lots and lots of samples.
The Project Gutenberg EBook of Printers' Marks, by William Roberts
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net
Title: Printers' Marks
A Chapter in the History of Typography
Author: William Roberts
Release Date: June 1, 2008 [EBook #25663]
Language: English
Character set encoding: UTF-8
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PRINTERS' MARKS ***
Produced by Louise Hope, Stephen Hope and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
file was produced from images generously made available
by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
THERE are few phases of typography open to the charge of being neglected. An unquestionable exception occurs, however, in relation to Printers’ Marks. This subject is in many respects one of the most interesting in connection with the early printers, who, using devices at first purely as trade marks for the protection of their books against the pirate, soon began to discern their ornamental value, and, consequently, employed the best available artists to design them. Many of these examples are of the greatest bibliographical and general interest, as well as of considerable value in supplementing an important class of illustrations to the printed books, and showing the origin of several typical classes of Book-plates (Ex-Libris). The present Handbook has been written with a view to supplying a readable but accurate account of this neglected chapter in the history of art and bibliography; and it appeals with equal force to the artist or collector. Only one book on the subject, Berjeau’s “Early Dutch, German, and English Printers’ Marks,” has appeared in this viii country, and this, besides being out of print and expensive, is destitute of descriptive letterpress. The principle which determined the selection of the illustrations is of a threefold character: first, the importance of the printer; secondly, the artistic value or interest of the Mark itself; and thirdly, the geographical importance of the city or town in which the Mark first appeared.
If I've correctly interpreted the publication date, it is 1893. He seems to have much more interest in later or "contemporary" marks than in the incunabula, but there is a fair share of those as well. It is an interesting read with lots and lots of samples.
09 February 2009
Great new breakthrough as I was making notes last night. There are a certain number of printers' marks from which most are derived (fiction). The last degree of mastery in the lore of the guild are the knowledge of the meaning of the 7, 12, or 13 basic marks. These are the marks that will guide Peter and Maddie to the final source. You have to have both the map and the key. The Printers' Marks are the key. Here are possibilities for the basic marks based on my investigation so far.
The final selection will all be unadorned so that no human or animal is portrayed (idolatry) and excludes initials or monograms. I have a fairly large collection of marks that I'll post for illustration as soon as I get them scanned.
Interestingly, Gutenberg himself did not use a mark. The first was the double flag used by Schoeffer and Fust for the Mainz Psalter.
- The Flag
- The Anchor
- The Disk or Orb
- The Cross or St. Albans' Cross
- The Caduceus or Double-Helix
- The Lozenge
- The Spade or Shield
- The Pyramid or Triangle
- The Chalice or Bowl
- The Scroll
- The Sword
- The Diamond
- The Fleur-de-lis
- The Castle
- The Heart
The final selection will all be unadorned so that no human or animal is portrayed (idolatry) and excludes initials or monograms. I have a fairly large collection of marks that I'll post for illustration as soon as I get them scanned.
Interestingly, Gutenberg himself did not use a mark. The first was the double flag used by Schoeffer and Fust for the Mainz Psalter.
06 February 2009
Scene 9: Peter Maddie need to get out of the country and head to Turkey, via Mainz. Peter's refusal to "report in" to The Voice causes the Voice to turn up the heat a bit and blow something up or get the police on them. Peter gets another picture of Maddie, and now one of his mother and grandfather as well. Peter looks at a map of Germany and tells the Voice that he needs to find the source of Die Schwarze Fluss in Germany. In reality, he has decided to mobilize the Guild and catches a plane to Frankfurt. He needs more clues as to where the map leads.
Scene 10: A meeting of the guild in Mainz, DE. Maddie is inducted into the first degree of the guild so she can participate. Induction included a tatoo. Also other rites that are performed. From there, they go into an analysis of the map and work out the starting point as Istanbul. They work out that there will be a printer's mark that will lead them to the treasure. They also come up with a hint as to what the treasure is. They have full access to the Gutenberg Museum in Mainz. Something in there will give them a vital clue. Note: I need the catalog of documents in the Gutenberg Museum.
Secret Map Realization: They don't really have to connect the dots. That's why you need to have all 12 pages. If you overlay all the dots you get the whole picture. The dots fill in.
Currently working on an expanded outline for the book, working in more characters, sub-plots, and misdirections.
Scene 10: A meeting of the guild in Mainz, DE. Maddie is inducted into the first degree of the guild so she can participate. Induction included a tatoo. Also other rites that are performed. From there, they go into an analysis of the map and work out the starting point as Istanbul. They work out that there will be a printer's mark that will lead them to the treasure. They also come up with a hint as to what the treasure is. They have full access to the Gutenberg Museum in Mainz. Something in there will give them a vital clue. Note: I need the catalog of documents in the Gutenberg Museum.
Secret Map Realization: They don't really have to connect the dots. That's why you need to have all 12 pages. If you overlay all the dots you get the whole picture. The dots fill in.
Currently working on an expanded outline for the book, working in more characters, sub-plots, and misdirections.
03 February 2009
It seems as though I need a library security expert. The Scheide has declined to offer any assistance because of security concerns. The only reason that the Scheide is of particular interest is because that is where the only American Bamberg is located. This will require some creative thinking and a library security resource.
The Scheide Bamberg was originally in the Benedictine convent in Wurzburg which was acquired 200 years ago by Earl Spencer. Thence to Scheide.
My rare books security system for a library would include a secure locking system, of course. Whenever the alarm is triggered, the doors would seal and lock until released after the environment is secure. The room would then be flooded with an inert, non-flamable gas, replacing all the oxygen in the room (argon?). Of course, that means that all humans in the room die. SO, there are breathing apparati at stations in the room. You have to get into a mask before all the air is pumped out. Since this is so radical, I suggest it only for the vault, where the most valuable documents are kept. For individual documents that are on display, a steel case needs to drop over them and seal them up. Yeah, easy, right?
I need to figure out how to get the order of connect the dots figured out. There is always the chance that they could be in alphabetical order. Start with the dot on A and progress to the dot on B. Problem is that all the letters won't be in the rubric and there is a predominance of "T," or some single letter.
The next thing is that the position of the nick on the character could indicate the direction to the next nick in the order. That might work. No one who would normally see the rubric would think twice about seeing nicked letters or imperfect type since it is not meant ot be read or published, but only to be copied in the order presented to the blank spaces. That seems like the most likely at the moment.
The Silk Road ran from Istanbul (Constantinople) through Turkey & Kurdistan, then Iran, and on. The land route fell into disuse in the 1400s with the closing of China and the Ottoman invasion. It would be quite natural to have the map be of the Silk Road.
The Scheide Bamberg was originally in the Benedictine convent in Wurzburg which was acquired 200 years ago by Earl Spencer. Thence to Scheide.
My rare books security system for a library would include a secure locking system, of course. Whenever the alarm is triggered, the doors would seal and lock until released after the environment is secure. The room would then be flooded with an inert, non-flamable gas, replacing all the oxygen in the room (argon?). Of course, that means that all humans in the room die. SO, there are breathing apparati at stations in the room. You have to get into a mask before all the air is pumped out. Since this is so radical, I suggest it only for the vault, where the most valuable documents are kept. For individual documents that are on display, a steel case needs to drop over them and seal them up. Yeah, easy, right?
I need to figure out how to get the order of connect the dots figured out. There is always the chance that they could be in alphabetical order. Start with the dot on A and progress to the dot on B. Problem is that all the letters won't be in the rubric and there is a predominance of "T," or some single letter.
The next thing is that the position of the nick on the character could indicate the direction to the next nick in the order. That might work. No one who would normally see the rubric would think twice about seeing nicked letters or imperfect type since it is not meant ot be read or published, but only to be copied in the order presented to the blank spaces. That seems like the most likely at the moment.
The Silk Road ran from Istanbul (Constantinople) through Turkey & Kurdistan, then Iran, and on. The land route fell into disuse in the 1400s with the closing of China and the Ottoman invasion. It would be quite natural to have the map be of the Silk Road.
02 February 2009
I wrote to the director of the Scheide Library for help today. I'm not keen on using real locations for the story for obvious reasons, but basing a mythical location on a real one is certainly within bounds, especially since there are only a dozen copies of the Bamberg extant and one is at the Scheide.
- Are the volumes at the Scheide in display cases like the British Library?
- Is it possible for qualified people to examine the volumes outside the sealed environment in which they are kept?
- Is the Scheide inside the firestone Library or a standalone?
- Is there much traffic in and out?
- Is there a known copy of the rubric for the Bamberg?
- Is there an on-line copy or image of the Bamberg?
- Where are the other Bambergs?
- Where did this one come from?
01 February 2009
Scene 7: A mockup of Princeton University and the Scheide Rare Books Library. Peter & Maddie arrive and scout out the location of the four famous Bibles located there. This is the first time they actually decide to break the law and they doit in what would have been a daring and spectacular way if it were not for the other disaster/distraction that occurs simultaneously. They remove all three volumes of The Bamberg Bible (some 150lbs) and take them to their hotel room or other location. They examine the books intently and discover the pages hidden in the binding. These they remove and then place the repaired Bibles in a Frat house so as to look like an inter-frat rivalry prank. Then Peter and Maddie head out.
Scene 8: Peter & Maddie have to figure out the code. They use high res imagery to analyze the pages. Ultimately they discovere the nicks in the type characters. At first they try a cipher, but when that doesn't yield results, Peter absently connects the dots. He realizes there is might be a pattern. That means that my major clue has to include something about not just knowng the stones, but following them. Something about "My secret I have hidden in the Black River and only he who follows the stones may cross to the other side." the key is that they have to overlay the eight sheets to get the actual map. The map won't make too much sense until they overlay it with a 15th centruy map of Eastern Europe. I'm not positive yet, but I think it will lead them into Kurdistan. I foresee the need to introduce a computer expert on their team and possibly a Kurd.
Scene 8: Peter & Maddie have to figure out the code. They use high res imagery to analyze the pages. Ultimately they discovere the nicks in the type characters. At first they try a cipher, but when that doesn't yield results, Peter absently connects the dots. He realizes there is might be a pattern. That means that my major clue has to include something about not just knowng the stones, but following them. Something about "My secret I have hidden in the Black River and only he who follows the stones may cross to the other side." the key is that they have to overlay the eight sheets to get the actual map. The map won't make too much sense until they overlay it with a 15th centruy map of Eastern Europe. I'm not positive yet, but I think it will lead them into Kurdistan. I foresee the need to introduce a computer expert on their team and possibly a Kurd.
29 January 2009
The next step here is to establish what the guild rituals are. For that, I needed the formula for Gutenberg's ink, especially to determine the metal content. Here is what I found first:
This is significantly different from the Iron Gall Ink that Jason mentioned in a previous comment that was used by scribes. It was made from iron salts and tannin from vegetable sources.
I'm thinking that because of Gutenberg's association with the goldsmith's guild, the secret craftsmen's association that holds the Gutenberg secret is called something to do with precious metals, smithing, and founding. It could be a Smiths and Typefounders Union. Something like "The Worshipful Company of Smiths and Tyhpefounders," or "The Revered Font of Gold and Metal Workers," or "The Secret Council of Engravers and Fontographers."
Isaac Newton believed in the medicinal properties of taking a little Mercury internally each day. I'm guessing that a little heavy metal in the guildmember's diet would be appropriate.
So there would have to be an initiation ritual, obviously. There are lots of different examples of these to draw from. In addition to initiation there is the "Bringing of the Book," the "Inking of the Mark," and the "Taking of an Apprentice." Those four will do for starters. At least one of these includes a communion with ink; one involves tatooing; one involves invocations and presentation of a reading from an ancient book.
Regarding the initiation:
For information on Masonic ritual (old) see Duncan's Masonic Ritual
The ink used by Gutenberg was also a new development. It was not really ink at all, more like a varnish or oil paint. Unlike writing-ink it is oil-based, not based on water. Water-based ink would simply run off the metal types whereas the thick, viscous oil-based varnish sticks to them.
The black colouring of the ink is carbon - perhaps lamp black. Under the microscope, small reflective grains are visible distributed randomly throughout the ink. They are likely to be graphite - highly ordered carbon. These particles may be intended to improve the quality of the ink or be a by-product of the processing of the carbon to make the ink. More information on this analysis.
Gutenberg's printer's ink is distinctive in having a glittering surface. This is because of its high level of metal content, in particular copper, lead and titanium. It also contains sulphur.
The printer's ink was made up in batches, and was of course hand-made. Cyclotron analysis has enabled us to distinguish between batches and that has enabled us to understand much more about how the work was organised in Gutenberg's workshop.
The British Library
This is significantly different from the Iron Gall Ink that Jason mentioned in a previous comment that was used by scribes. It was made from iron salts and tannin from vegetable sources.
The ink was generally prepared by adding some ferrous sulfate (FeSO4) to a solution of gallotannic acid, but any iron ion donor can be used. The tannic acid was usually extracted from oak galls (also known as "oak apples" or more correctly Oak marble galls), or galls of other trees; hence the name. Fermentation or hydrolysis of the extract releases gallic acid, which yields a darker black ink. The fermented extract is combined with the ferrous sulfate and a binder such as gum arabic.
After filtering, the resulting pale-gray solution was used to write on paper or vellum. A well-prepared ink would gradually darken to an intense purplish black. The resulting marks would adhere firmly to the vellum or parchment, and (unlike india ink or other formulas) could not be erased by rubbing or washing — only by actually scraping off a thin layer of the writing surface.
That it can be completely removed was sufficient to allow this ink, or a galloferric ink with added carbon black, (lamp black) to be used in making Torah scrolls - if a letter is ever found cracked, common with a vellum document rolled and rerolled daily, it must be removed in its entirety before it is redrawn for the scroll to remain ritually pure. This has led to many a "red" Torah where over the years the ink reacted with oxygen and changed to a reddish color, which is not kosher for a Sefer Torah (the ink must be black).
Wikipedia
I'm thinking that because of Gutenberg's association with the goldsmith's guild, the secret craftsmen's association that holds the Gutenberg secret is called something to do with precious metals, smithing, and founding. It could be a Smiths and Typefounders Union. Something like "The Worshipful Company of Smiths and Tyhpefounders," or "The Revered Font of Gold and Metal Workers," or "The Secret Council of Engravers and Fontographers."
Isaac Newton believed in the medicinal properties of taking a little Mercury internally each day. I'm guessing that a little heavy metal in the guildmember's diet would be appropriate.
So there would have to be an initiation ritual, obviously. There are lots of different examples of these to draw from. In addition to initiation there is the "Bringing of the Book," the "Inking of the Mark," and the "Taking of an Apprentice." Those four will do for starters. At least one of these includes a communion with ink; one involves tatooing; one involves invocations and presentation of a reading from an ancient book.
Regarding the initiation:
Special rituals and requirements for new members of a group are called initiation rituals. Many social organizations are quite demanding of new members. Anthropologists have a term—mortification rituals—for initiation ceremonies that inflict pain or humiliation or otherwise mortify the new member of the group. To mortify is, literally, to threaten death, and mortification rituals often threaten death either actually or symbolically.
What are mortification rituals? For example, in the initiation ritual for the Freemasons, the candidate is blindfolded and then led around by a rope around his neck. As the candidate approaches the oath of secrecy, the sharp point of a sword is place against his left breast. The Skull and Bones secret society at Yale puts a new member into a coffin. Members chant at him and he is "reborn" into the society.
Mortification rituals encourage the comraderie that results from shared experiences of hardship, familiar to any war veteran. Also, as implied by cognitive dissonance theory, people who sacrifice for a group are more likely to adopt a positive attitude toward the group. Once they have engaged in behavior that implies that group membership is worth paying a high price, they are likely to convince themselves that group membership is very valuable. To feel otherwise would make it hard to explain why they went through the trouble and discomfort involved in joining the group.
Mystery also plays a role in group cohesion. When a new member is recruited to a "secret society" or similar organization, promises are shared, oaths recited, sacred responsibilities pronounced and accepted. Access is allowed to secret writings or places.
Consider the typical graduation ceremony at a college or university. Students and faculty in long flowing robes listen to speakers make weighty pronouncements. Dignitaries hand out scrolls. It is an echo of ancient rites signifying initiation into a guild consisting of the educated elite.
Initiation Rituals
For information on Masonic ritual (old) see Duncan's Masonic Ritual
28 January 2009
By 1700 (at least, maybe much earlier), the wayzgoose mentioned in my January 26 post was being celebrated on or about August 24, St. Bartholomew's Day. He was the patron of the book binders guild and The Gutenberg Bible was said to have been finished on August 24, 1456.
Now on to names for the rival guilds that might be considered. There is a Worshipful Company of Scriveners in London that is mostly notaries. They do legal document work. (http://www.scriveners.org.uk/) The Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers is a London Livery company founded in 1403. It was originally booksellers, illuminators, and bookbinders, but by the time the company received its royal charter of incorporation in 1557 it included printers. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worshipful_Company_of_Stationers_and_Newspaper_Makers)
I'm thinking that my Gutenberg-based guild might be called the Honorable Brotherhood of Scriveners, Typesetters, and Pressmen. The Aldine-based guild would be called the Fraternal Order of Printers and Scribes. These could work out to be important names, so I'll let them stew a while before solidifying it. There are Worshipful Companies, Fraternal Orders, Honorable Brotherhoods, Royal Guilds, Societies, Unions, and Associations. Lots of info regarding the development of Guilds in various countries at http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07066c.htm. "Guilds were voluntary associations for religious, social, and commercial purposes. These associations, which attained their highest development among the Teutonic nations, especially the English, during the Middle Ages..."
Now on to names for the rival guilds that might be considered. There is a Worshipful Company of Scriveners in London that is mostly notaries. They do legal document work. (http://www.scriveners.org.uk/) The Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers is a London Livery company founded in 1403. It was originally booksellers, illuminators, and bookbinders, but by the time the company received its royal charter of incorporation in 1557 it included printers. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worshipful_Company_of_Stationers_and_Newspaper_Makers)
I'm thinking that my Gutenberg-based guild might be called the Honorable Brotherhood of Scriveners, Typesetters, and Pressmen. The Aldine-based guild would be called the Fraternal Order of Printers and Scribes. These could work out to be important names, so I'll let them stew a while before solidifying it. There are Worshipful Companies, Fraternal Orders, Honorable Brotherhoods, Royal Guilds, Societies, Unions, and Associations. Lots of info regarding the development of Guilds in various countries at http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07066c.htm. "Guilds were voluntary associations for religious, social, and commercial purposes. These associations, which attained their highest development among the Teutonic nations, especially the English, during the Middle Ages..."
27 January 2009
Now, I am back to the beginning.
I'm thinking that Peter & his grandfater do a bit of communicating by sign language. He teaches Maddie some and later they recognize a rival or possible ally because they see him signing.
I really need to flesh out some of the other characters that are going to be involved in this. So far I have the vague notion that there is a bomber and a detective of some sort, but nothing more stable than that. I can't build a complex enough storyline unless I have more players.
- Who wants something from the Library of Alexandria so badly that he will blow up buildings and kill people to manipulate Peter & Maddie to get it?
- What is it?
- Why is it so valuable?
- Even if it was both the library and the temple treasure, is that enough to motivate the story?
- Is The Voice a member of one of the Guild factions, or is Peter being blocked or dogged by the Aldines as well?
I'm thinking that Peter & his grandfater do a bit of communicating by sign language. He teaches Maddie some and later they recognize a rival or possible ally because they see him signing.
I really need to flesh out some of the other characters that are going to be involved in this. So far I have the vague notion that there is a bomber and a detective of some sort, but nothing more stable than that. I can't build a complex enough storyline unless I have more players.
26 January 2009
First - I'm not a Master Printer. I'm familiar with a wide range of printing and publishing technologies and a pretty extensive knowledge of the history of printing. So, understand that this is a fictionalsummation of what could feasibly be hidden in a mystery cult of printers (similar to what The Masons are to masonry & bricklaying.)
From medieval times as far back as the Incunabula (1455-1505) there has been a party or ceremony in the fall - typically October - called a wayzgoose. As it has come down to us, it was a feast given by the printer for his employees that ostensibly marked the beginning of "working by candlelight." This was also the time of initiation. New apprentices were recognized by their masters and new journeymen and master printers were recognized by the Guild. Among the masters, it was also an initiation into the mysteries of printing. It was said that a printer upon this initiation became a master of "the black arts." We have always assumed that the reference was to the black ink that printers used, but we discover that there were similar rituals and initiations among scribes for centuries before Gutenberg's inventions.
What has been passed down of the mysteries is more than how to make a printer's hat from newspaper. There is the legend that Gutenberg printed a book that contained the ancient secrets of alchemy from which the printing arts evolved. This is why Nicolas Flamel, in the encoded book he gave his son, forbade anyone but his children and scribes to read it.
Beside the heritage of Gutenberg, we also have the legend of the hidden treasure described in Aldus Manutius's "Hypnerotomachia Poliphilli." There are emerging from this, three schools of mystery: 1. the Gutenberg camp; 2. the Aldine camp; 3. those who believe either both or neither. Of course, among these, there is considerable rivalry between the Gutenbergs and the Aldines.
Other secrets of the printer's guild talk of formulae that are elixirs in the form of inks, precious metals, like silver made from lead type, and treasured volumes that have been hidden away so that libraries and museums cannot hoard them. There is much, also, regarding sign language because many deaf people work on both presses and typesetting machines. In addition to the traditional national sign lanugages, each Guild has its own secret signs.
So, we have an entire secret society made up of skilled craftsmen who consider themselves the guardians of the word and the secrets of alchemie and ancient texts, complete with rivalries between factions and secret languages.
From medieval times as far back as the Incunabula (1455-1505) there has been a party or ceremony in the fall - typically October - called a wayzgoose. As it has come down to us, it was a feast given by the printer for his employees that ostensibly marked the beginning of "working by candlelight." This was also the time of initiation. New apprentices were recognized by their masters and new journeymen and master printers were recognized by the Guild. Among the masters, it was also an initiation into the mysteries of printing. It was said that a printer upon this initiation became a master of "the black arts." We have always assumed that the reference was to the black ink that printers used, but we discover that there were similar rituals and initiations among scribes for centuries before Gutenberg's inventions.
What has been passed down of the mysteries is more than how to make a printer's hat from newspaper. There is the legend that Gutenberg printed a book that contained the ancient secrets of alchemy from which the printing arts evolved. This is why Nicolas Flamel, in the encoded book he gave his son, forbade anyone but his children and scribes to read it.
Beside the heritage of Gutenberg, we also have the legend of the hidden treasure described in Aldus Manutius's "Hypnerotomachia Poliphilli." There are emerging from this, three schools of mystery: 1. the Gutenberg camp; 2. the Aldine camp; 3. those who believe either both or neither. Of course, among these, there is considerable rivalry between the Gutenbergs and the Aldines.
Other secrets of the printer's guild talk of formulae that are elixirs in the form of inks, precious metals, like silver made from lead type, and treasured volumes that have been hidden away so that libraries and museums cannot hoard them. There is much, also, regarding sign language because many deaf people work on both presses and typesetting machines. In addition to the traditional national sign lanugages, each Guild has its own secret signs.
So, we have an entire secret society made up of skilled craftsmen who consider themselves the guardians of the word and the secrets of alchemie and ancient texts, complete with rivalries between factions and secret languages.
25 January 2009
The Druckers are and have been a family of printers for generations. The name Drucker is German for "printer." Peter's fater was killed in a printshop accident when he fell into a high-speed Web press. His mother, frightened that it was not an accident, forebade any contact between Peter and his grandfater save Christmas and birthday cards and the grandfather's one gift of a subscription to a boy's magazine.
In fact, Francis Drucker, the grandfather, wrote and printed the quarterly magazine himself and there was a small subscription base. It seemed a pretty basic magazine focused on solving puzzles and telling exciting stories. In fact, it was a training magazine that Francis used to impart bits of wisdom and lore that he would have passed directly to Peter if he had been allowed more contact. Francis operated his publication from a remote facility near El Centro, CA.
Peter's inborn love of books led him to study library science in school, but when, at age 21, he received a ticket to visit his grandfather, he fell in love with presses. He was, however, also in love with the new desktop publishing and computer technology. Nonetheless, Francis initiated Peter into the mysteries of the Printer's guild. These mysteries included legends of another Gutenberg book, a hidden treasure, and the people who took them seriously. Peter traveled as an expert in DTP, training and assisting conversions to computerized processes, but he continued to complete his studies in library science, now determined to gain access to rare books that might hold the key to the printers' mysteries.
Hence, Peter was well-acquainted with the legends of gutenberg's other book long before The Voice contacted him. In fact, that seems to be why The mysterious Voice wanted Peter to be the one who went on the quest and solved the problem.
In fact, Francis Drucker, the grandfather, wrote and printed the quarterly magazine himself and there was a small subscription base. It seemed a pretty basic magazine focused on solving puzzles and telling exciting stories. In fact, it was a training magazine that Francis used to impart bits of wisdom and lore that he would have passed directly to Peter if he had been allowed more contact. Francis operated his publication from a remote facility near El Centro, CA.
Peter's inborn love of books led him to study library science in school, but when, at age 21, he received a ticket to visit his grandfather, he fell in love with presses. He was, however, also in love with the new desktop publishing and computer technology. Nonetheless, Francis initiated Peter into the mysteries of the Printer's guild. These mysteries included legends of another Gutenberg book, a hidden treasure, and the people who took them seriously. Peter traveled as an expert in DTP, training and assisting conversions to computerized processes, but he continued to complete his studies in library science, now determined to gain access to rare books that might hold the key to the printers' mysteries.
Hence, Peter was well-acquainted with the legends of gutenberg's other book long before The Voice contacted him. In fact, that seems to be why The mysterious Voice wanted Peter to be the one who went on the quest and solved the problem.
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