Platypus of Truth

What kept Randolph Carter up so late pondering over antique maps?  One of the hotel staff reports hearing mysterious bells ringing in Carter's room at around midnight.

A stop for lunch in Hartford on the way back to Arkham and a chance to ponder.

The museum curator had some trouble finding the box, but after a sufficient "memory aid" was able to produce it.  He is sure that the contents would not be missed were an "accident" to occur. The business in Shanghai concluded, Carter returns to New England where there has been some unusual digging in several of Providence's grave yards. A few discrete inquiries were made regarding one "Joseph Curren" or "Curwen". 

Carter's journey continues in this morning's pictures  What was in the box that old Aunt Mary always kept locked away at the back of her private writing desk?  Friendly advice from an Orientalist at Kingsport suggests a sudden change of plans? What secrets did Carter learn amid forgotten tomes that finally drove him all the way to Shanghi?

Armed with the Eldar Sign, Randolph Carter is ready to set out into the Dreamlands whatever machinations of Nyarlathotep may await him there. Of Interest: The Items on Carter's Desk A Thousand Miles Up the Nile  by Amelia B. Edwards (2nd Ed. 1890) Through the Dark Continent  by Henry M. Stanley (1st American Printing) A Dagger from the Kameroons Several Fossils (Including a Trilobite) Qing Dynasty Coins Late Roman Coins A Nice Fountain Pen A Replica of King Tut's Burial Mask A Replica of A Terracotta Warrior A Salt Crystal A Native American Arrowhead A Piece of Fool's Gold A Bottle of Shells From Venice A Bottle of Earth From Cork. Ireland A Bottle of Assorted Gemstones An Irish Wood-Carving The Base of a Tiffany Lamp

Randolph Carter passes the second gate and realizes that he is enmeshed in the webs of Yog Sothoth.

Randolph Carter uses the Silver Key.  The Randolph Carter cycle is one of my favorite Lovecraft creations.  It shows us another side of the master of Cosmic Horror: his deep love of beauty, creativity, and culture.  They're the stories that make me wish I'd had the chance to know the guy.

A word or two remains to be said about the Reverend Jedidiah Mills , the "first and faithful minister of the Gospel of Christ at Ripton".  My earlier post neglected to pieces of local lore about the good Reverend (who in an ironic twist was often called "the priest" while his Anglican opposite, the Rev. Newton, was called "parson") noted by Ripton's great historian, Jane de Forest Shelton in her master-work  The Saltbox House . The first anecdote about Reverend Mills concerns the French and Indian War.  Apparently, when news of the British Victory came by errand-rider to the village green, the Reverend was in the middle of a baptism.  The ceremony paused for a moment of general celebration, but when the elderly Reverend went back to the baptism his mind was slow to follow: he accidentally christened the baby "Victory".  The name stuck, and was even passed on to a younger cousin. The second anecdote has an odd personal connection.  When ...

The orcs carrying Turin hail Thangorodrim as they emerge from Tar-na-fuin.  We watch with Beleg from the safety of a nearby escarpment.

After another hour of work, my pastel sketch of Beren defying Thangorodrim is puttering along nicely.  I've learned that I need to press harder and trust my blenders more and that I need to stop stinting on my color application.  I haven't made any use of Microsoft Paint yet, but I'm sure that will come in time.

 It's Finals season and that means Whiteboard Art Mayhem ensues!  This year, the Slugbeast has been slow in making his appearance.  In the meantime, Literature is representing loud and proud with this updated version of a classic text.  Stendhal has broken out on the whiteboard with the aid of Jean-Paul Sartre.  Gotta love those tacos.  Mummy kitteh can has rotten onion.  Props to you if you know what this is about.  Ah!  The Slugbeast cometh!  He is as the howling wind that knoweth not pity, that knoweth not mercy!  Of colossal tread is he...  I think this speaks for itself.  Look upon their works ye mighty and despair. *Please note: the little girl, chilled man, and mummy kitteh are courtesy of the students.

Beren defies Angband.  I've been working my way through "The Lays of Beleriand" and "The Shaping of Middle Earth" over the last few months and it was time to begin working out the images in my head on paper.  We'll see how far I get.

Henry E. Plumb (1824-1906) was a citizen of Monroe Connecticut and inventor of a new hay elevator and carrier .  This isn't surprising since the 1880 census records his occupation as "Farmer".  The witness to his patent, David Wells, is buried in the same cemetery (East Village Cemetery).  There is an interesting significance here to be teased out since the businessman who endowed the local library was named David Wells Plumb (1808-1892).  David Wells Plumb's mother was Urania Wells (1784-1862).  Given the location and the names, there must be some connection between Henry E. Plumb the farmer who ended up wealthy enough to afford a set of rather elaborate tombstones for himself and his second wife (his first wife, Catherine Elijah d. 1854 aged 29 years, is also buried elsewhere in the cemetery) and David Wells Plumb. the businessman whose dream it was for Shelton to have its own public library.  I haven't been able to find it so far, but if you discover ...