Proppingupthemythos
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Spoiler Thread for Leaf 001
🕑 Added 2018-05-25 20:48:33 +0000 UTC This will serve as a place for me to give a peak behind the curtains (at least a little) on what went into making the first leaf. I'll break it down page by page, with the cover being page 1, the Order of the Inspirati being page 2, and the last two being pages 47 and 48.IF YOU HAVEN'T RECEIVED LEAF 001 YET PLEASE STOP READING! THERE ARE MASSIVE SPOILERS AHEAD!
Starting with the cover page, I had to make some decisions right off the bat. For one thing, Lovecraft specifically said that Dee's translation was never printed in his "History of the Necronomicon", but the way the Dee copy is described in The Dunwich Horror seems to contradict this. Regardless, the idea of a widespread printing would appear to be ruled out. Lovecraft also noted that the previous Greek and Latin translations had been banned or suppressed. So to my mind, what we have here is a very limited run intended for an existing audience, and for that reason the forbidden name Necronomicon is proudly displayed on the title page (but probably not on the cover, cf. the hidden copy in the Strange Case of Charles Dexter Ward).
Next we have the question of who prepared this book. Dr. John Dee translated it, but the printing occurred after his death. In the story The Silver Key we are told Randolph Carter had an ancestor who "studied magic when Elizabeth was Queen". This was too good to pass up, so Sir Randolph Carter becomes a stand-in for Edward Kelly. This makes an interesting juxtaposition where Abdel is a believer, Dee is not, but Carter is. So essentially I have a story going on in the 8th century in Yemen, and another going on in the 17th century in England that will play out in the marginalia. But there is another character who is the benefactor of Sir Randolph Carter. We will learn more about him on an upcoming Leaf...
I will post more about Leaf 001 soon!
