Whitechapel Open Case: 0702
Case Status: OPEN
Purpose:
To identify the origin of this unknown page found in a volume of the Scarpelli Family Library.
Background:
The Whitechapel Foundation’s Director of Antiquities, Ms. Shannon O’Donnell, is currently on assignment with the Hawthorne Group assisting with the cataloging of the Scarpelli Family Library. On Tuesday, 27 Nov 07, Ms. O’Donnell was processing the library’s copy of a 1609 printing of the Amphitheatrum Sapientiae Aeternae when she found inserted between two of the book’s pages a hand-written page of symbols and figures. It was immediately obvious to Ms. O’Donnell that the page was not part of the Amphitheatrum Sapientiae Aeternae.
The page is inscribed with lines of symbols, the meaning of which are currently unknown. The page also contains a geometric drawing that produces an acute angle (lined in red pencil) and a repeating pattern made up of circles and slashes. Since the page was found in a book on alchemy it is thought that the page may be related to alchemical or magical studies, but neither Ms. O’Donnell nor Mr. Nordstrom (the Hawthorne Group’s chief archivist) recognized the symbols or diagrams as belonging to any works they are familiar with.
The page appears to be of fairly recent origin owing to the paper that was used. The paper was probably manufactured within the last 50 years; it is lined (printed), heavy bond (probably about 20 lb), and there is no watermark. The paper may have been cut from a bound volume, as one edge has been cut with an edge of some sort (or possibly scissors).
* UPDATE - 10 Dec 07 *
Members of the Open Cases collaborative community have solved the cipher on this mysterious document. As it turns out, the lines of symbols on the page are a substitution cipher that, when deciphered, appear to describe a process or ritual of some sort. This would be in keeping with the type of book in which the manuscript page was found, but the Foundation has confirmed that the process described on the page is not found in, nor related to, any content in the Amphitheatrum Sapientiae Aeternae. If you would like to see the deciphered text of the page, the Foundation has posted it here: OC:0702 Deciphered Text . [Please note: This link displays the cleartext of this cipher. If you are interested in independently corroborating the solve for this cipher you may not want to follow this link.]
The Foundation is still very interested in any information regarding the origin of the document and/or additional information about the process described therein. If you have any information regarding the origin of this page or the nature of its content, please leave a comment or contact Mr. Ethan Grant directly via the E-mail address below.
Image: The page found in the Amphitheatrum
Notes - OC:0702
1) There is a fine, powdery substance that appears to be ash on the lower portion of the document. It is assumed that whoever was writing or transcribing this page dropped cigarette or pipe ash on the document and attempted to brush it off.
2) This scan was made with the permission of the Hawthorne Group, which has been named the trustee of the Scarpelli Family Library by the Scarpelli Family Trust. All rights reserved.
Contact:
If you have any information regarding the origin of this page or the nature of its content, please leave a comment or contact Mr. Ethan Grant directly at:
ethan at whitechapelfoundation dot org
.
