#Rare Books Mysteries

[sheilajsn]

Libros nominados al Premio Agatha 2024

Este año, al igual que en años anteriores, decidí leer los libros nominados al Premio Agatha 2024 en la categoría de mejor primer misterio. En caso de que no estén familiarizados, el Premio Agatha (Agatha Award), en honor a la gran autora de misterio, Agatha Christie, es un premio literario para escritores de misterio, particularmente, el subgénero que se conoce como “Cozy Mysteries”. Este…

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Gaslight, Gatekeep, Girl found dead in a hidden room.

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[thebeautifulbook]

CIPHER MANUSCRIPT [aka VOYNICH MANUSCRIPT] by Roger Bacon[?] (Central Europe, c.1401-1599) 18th -19th century binding.

‘Scientific or magical text in an unidentified language, in cipher, apparently based on Roman minuscule characters; the text is believed by some scholars to be the work of Roger Bacon since the themes as the illustrations seem to represent topics know to have interested Bacon…. A history of the numerous attempts to decipher the manuscript can be found in a volume edited by R.S Brumbaugh THE MOST MYSTERIOUS MANUSCRIPT: The Voynich “Roger Bacon” Cipher Manuscript (Carbondale, IL, 1978). Although several scholars have claimed decipherments of the manuscript, for the most part the text remains an unsolved puzzle.’ — from an abstract by the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale

source [digitized]

[adhd-merlin]

Ever After

Fandom: Knights of the Round Table: Lancelot (Gwen Rowley) Relationship: King Arthur/Queen Guinevere Tags: Established Relationship, Sexual Repression, Miscommunication Words: 4800 Summary: A missing scene from Gwen Rowley's novel Lancelot. Since I didn't get the Arthur/Guinevere reconciliation scene I wanted, I wrote one myself.

Note: You can read Lancelot here—the entire book, or even just Chapter 38 (p. 222), of which this fic is a direct continuation. If you want to give this fic a go but can't be bothered with all that, I've summarised the Arthur/Guinevere subplot in the author's end notes on AO3. Many thanks to @queer-ragnelle for uploading and sharing this novel <3 You can find more books about Arthuriana on their blog, including Gawain, which is part of the same series and a fun retelling of the tale of Sir Gawain and the Loathly Lady (and can be read on its own.)

EXCERPT:

Arthur banged his fist on the door, with a force matching the pounding in his chest. “Guinevere!” The loudness of his own voice startled him, and he took a deep breath to calm himself. There were enough rumours going around already—the last thing they needed was for someone to overhear the king begging to be let into his wife's chamber.

“Guinevere,” he repeated, more quietly, but no less firmly. “I order you to open. We must talk.”

The door was yanked open so swiftly that Arthur almost lost his balance. He caught himself upon the doorframe before he could fall against Guinevere, who now stood in front of him, regarding him with an icy fury that would have made a man of lesser courage shrink in fear.

Arthur couldn’t think of any other occasion in which he had ordered Guinevere to do anything, and it was clear that she resented him for doing so now.

“What more is there to talk about, my lord?” she said, coldly. “I’ve confessed everything I’ve ever kept from you. There is no more to be said.”

She made as if to close the door again, but Arthur stopped it before she could slam it in his face. “I rather think there is. And I would hear it from you.”

READ ON AO3:

[nextstopwonderland]

Kind of obsessed with the Cipher Manuscript (aka the Voynich Manuscript) as seen on Mystery Files. Here’s some of the photos from The Beinecke.

The book has been fully digitized by them and is available here.

[mvshortcut]

Crack mbs spinoff where Mr. Oshiro and Ms. Perumal's mother are vigilantes together

[spotlightstudios]

Shout-out to the Barnes & nobles cashier who recommended me a book in which the MC has my (middle)name .5 seconds after she typed out my email (which includes my middle name).

Like, literally barely a moment passed before she had that thang on-hand and on the counter for me to look at. Pure skill.

[othmeralia]

Rare Book Thursday

Shown here is Curiosa physica, oder, Lehre von unterscheidlichen Natur-Geheimnissen (1701). This was written by Johann Otto von Hellwig, a German physician, alchemist, and author. The book is on the mysteries of nature.

[mycological-mariner]

Can’t sleep. Thinking about fungi.

[sometimesreading]

Molly would be disappointed in my rumpled bedspread and dust bunnies, but I love her anyway

[mtlibrary]

Provenance mysteries: The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia

The first provenance mystery of 2023 features Sir Philip Sidney’s The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia, published in London in 1593. As can be seen here, the title is set within a lavishly decorated woodcut border.

The book was presented to the Library on 30 June 1876 by James Claude Webster (1840-1908), whose bookplate is visible here. In addition to being a member of Middle Temple, he belonged to the Athenaeum Club. As club secretary, he wrote to Robert Browning on 4 February 1862 to admit him as a member. He also contributed articles to the Encyclopaedia Britannica.

Sidney’s Arcadia (to use the shortened title) was published posthumously by his sister Mary Herbert, based on a manuscript version. It was written “in the new genre of prose romance,” and is believed to have been an inspiration for a scene in Shakespeare’s King Lear. Sidney died in battle near the town of Zutphen, and was buried in the old St. Paul’s cathedral in 1587.

The provenance mystery concerns the myriad of names found in this copy of one of the most famous works of early modern English prose. As can be seen here, the front end-leaf was used by a variety of young people to test out their pens. On this end-leaf we can see the following names: Dorothy Greaves; Robert Demetrius; Ann/e Bind; and John Greaves. There is one addition exercise, a four leaf clover, and what could possibly be some shorthand being tested (see under the name Dorothy Greaves). Another name is faintly visible: Tho Hey, and an aborted name: Doro.

There is a well-known John Greaves (1602-1652), a mathematician “who was interested in measuring ancient monuments.” Could our copy of Arcadia be evidence of the childish hand of this John Greaves?

Two further names are visible on the title page: John Grevail/n and Thomas Vincent 1754. The latter could be the oboist and composer Thomas Vincent (c. 1720-1783). Intriguingly, Vincent’s will stated that some of his income was to pass to James Robson, a bookseller in New Bond Street, suggesting a debt of some kind owed to Robson by Vincent.

There is one further provenance piece, at the end of the book – yet another name (possibly) is visible, P Pense [?] with the words ‘must stand to the same’ visible.

As ever, if you have comments or suggestions on this mystery, email us at: library@middletemple.org.uk.

Renae Satterley

Librarian

February 2023

[velvetbunniie-archive]

maybe i do need to read more agatha christie

[faildyke]

After going back and forth like idiots for half an hour, looking at nearly all the potentially incriminating footage before the 1:43:00 mark, and failing to pause at the right moments at least 20 times, I can proudly say that my brother and I managed to figure out the Glass Onion ending while still being completely wrong about everything

[the-busy-ghost]

So far, Agatha Christie's writing isn't doing much for me, but I will admit, I was utterly delighted to discover that Poirot actually does usher everyone into a drawing room to dramatically reveal the murderer

[ephemeral-winter]

ughhh it is 9:48pm why am i still nervous about a cataloging decision i made today that my boss is going to dispute and make me defend tomorrow!!!!! i know i'm right! or at least right enough compared to his version of the facts! and yet

[keycomicbooks]

Aliens: Survival #2 (1998) Tony Harris Cover, James Vance Story, Guy Davis Pencils 

#Aliens: Survival #2 (1998) #TonyHarris Cover, #JamesVance Story, #GuyDavis Pencils "Survival, Part 2" While trying to cope with a mysterious epidemic, the scientific expedition is nearly wiped out by a series of horrific encounters with the Aliens... https://www.rarecomicbooks.fashionablewebs.com/Aliens%20Survival.html#1 @rarecomicbooks Website Link In Bio Page If Applicable. SAVE ON SHIPPING COST - NOW AVAILABLE FOR LOCAL PICK UP IN DELTONA, FLORIDA #DarkHorseComics #KeyComics #ComicBooks #KeyComic #DarkHorse