I realize the title of this post sounds more like a Poirot novel, but I am actually refering to another example of mysterious book provenance I found in our library today. In 1851, the London publisher Thomas Bosworth published a second edition of Cases of Conscience; or, Lessons in Morals: for the Use of the Laity by Pascal the Younger (a.k.a. Pierce Connelly). The book is more of a pamphlet, and so was easily published together with a letter to W. E. Gladstone, Member of Parliament for the University of Oxford, who apparently held to some rather appeasing positions regarding the validity of the Church of Rome. The author attempts in this letter to convince Gladstone of the inconsistency of Romanism with true piety.

The letter itself is interesting reading, but the mysterious part is the handwritten, 4-page, note I found tucked within the book. The handwriting is rather hard to read (for me, at least), but it appears to be commending this publication along with the Church of Rome’s reply (which is not included in our binding). My best effort at interpreting note with links to images of the pages:

[page 1]
Blendworth _____
Hon. dean -
Feb. 6, 1859

My dear _______ /
I am very anxious / to put before you two / pamphlets written by / a friend of mine of / distinguished ability. / Their titles are “Cases / of Conscience or Lessons / in Morals for the use / of the Laity” by Pascal / [page 2] The Younger and / these men _____ Pascal / the Younger. / The Church of Rome’s / Defense against Cases / of Conscience with a Reply. / I consider these Pam- / phlets as one of the / severest blows, which the / Church of Rome has / received in modern / [page 3] times - a blow from which / she cannot recover - / Pray tell me the name / of your London bookseller / that _____ send you a / copy of each (of which I / expect _____ exceptance) / in kind to forward - / Should you like the Pam / phlets, those ____ will / kindly recommend them / to others; as it is a great / [page 4] object with my friend / (whose name I _____ _____ / mention) to sell his _____ / In this once well off, he / is now alas! in needy / circumstances -/
My archdeacon (_____) / says “this reply” is one of / the cleverest things he has / ever seen -/
_____ are my dear _____ / In _____ /

Edw. L. Ward

My best guess at the identity of the author is Edward Langton Ward, rector of Blendworth until his death in 1881.

Any help you can give me in deciphering the script of this note would be appreciated, for curiosity’s sake if nothing else. The next to last unreadable word appears to be the same as the second unreadable word.

Don’t you just love books?

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Book Provenance, Catholicism, Libraries | No Comments »

Forget the Da Vinci Code. Forget the Bible Code. Today marks the beginning of my quest to hunt down the real meaning behind the Oscar Mayer Code. If I should go missing over the weekend, my quest may have led me into the nefarious world of the Oscar Mayer Code.

Every now and then I pull a random book off the shelves here at our library just to see if it says anything interesting. Today I hit the jackpot. It seems that on December 7, 1955, Oscar Mayer (yes, that Oscar Mayer) delivered a chapel address to the students of Beloit College in Wisconsin entitled, “A Plan for Living.” In this address the Harvard educated (A.B., 1909) meat-processing businessman prescribed an eleven word “code” for living. I have only recently discovered a rare transcript of this address buried deep within the bowels of our mysterious library.

The transcript (click on the image) appears to imply that three of the words in the Oscar Mayer Code have some sort of special, and perhaps hidden, significance: Development, Consideration, Service. To complicate matters, it appears that this transcript was donated to our library by the author himself.

Questions that remain:

1. What do the emphasized words mean? What is the symbolism? Is it a puzzle? A riddle?
2. Why would Mayer discreetly hide a copy of the transcript in an unrelated institution?
3. Why has the transcript not circulated? It would appear that no one has checked it out. Ever.
4. Does the date the address, December 7, have any significance?

Is this all just a bunch of bologna?

Your thoughts?

UPDATE: My initial research has unearthed this video clip. Is it of any significance?

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Book Provenance, Books, Quotes | 3 Comments »

This inscription is from Svenskt Bibliskt Uppslagsverk, an apparent dictionary gifted by one of the editors, Ivan Engnell, a former professor of Old Testament at Uppsala in Sweden, to William F. Albright when they met in Uppsala in May, 1952. The book subsequently became a part of our library’s William F. Albright Collection.

This inscription written inside the book by Engnell appears to be in one of the Scandinavian languages, probably Swedish, but I have no idea what it says. Do you?

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Book Provenance, Books, Libraries | 2 Comments »