Book of Secrets Research Thread - Adam Savage Tested Review

[SchubroProductions]

Does anyone know what these two inserts are? I've never seen them in the two books produced here in the forums. I believe the first might be a Shadow Square but can't find a similar image anywhere. And does anyone know who the second photo is of? Both of these popped in the Adam Savages Tested look one of the books the Prop Store was auctioning.

 

[SchubroProductions]

The more I continue to study the screen grabs of Adam Savages review of the Book of Secrets, the more pages I'm able to deciper on what Ross MacDonald used as filler pages for each president. The page on the left was a letter from George Washington to Richard Washington from April 15, 1757 and the right page was a Financial Ledger with Last Name, First Name on the left and ledger page number on the right. I have to admit that is the best part of researching the book of secrets. Finding those pages that Ross used.

 

[SchubroProductions]

I managed to decipher and find another entry from the Book of Secrets. This one is from John Adams (or rather to John Adams from Saml. Huntington). JA was required to decipher a message in Lovell Cipher to get the instructions. The text is repeated on both pages. I'm not sure what the side notes say on both pages or why they tin type baby insert was placed here. But the text is below for the page: Text from the page is in bold.

Instructions to the Honble. John Adams Benjamin Franklin John Jay Henry Laurens and Thomas Jefferson ministers plenipotentiary in behalf of the United States to negotiate a Treaty of Peace

Gentlemen

You are hereby authorized and instructed to concur in behalf of these United States with his most Christian Majesty in accepting the Mediation proposed by the Empress of Russia and the Emperor of Germany.

You are to acceed to no Treaty of Peace which shall not be such as may 1st. effectually secure the Independence and Sovereignty of the thirteen United States according to the form & effect of the treaties subsisting between the said States & his most Christian Majesty and in which the said treaties shall not be5 ft in their full Force and Validity.

As to disputed boundaries and other particulars we refer you to the Instructions given to Mr. John Adams dated 14 August 1779 and 18 October 1780 from which you will easily the Desires and Expectations of Congress but we think it unsafe at this disdistance to tye you up by absolute and preremptory directions upon any other subject than the two essential Articles abovementioned. You are therefore at liberty to secure the Interest of the United States in such manner as circumstances may direct and as the state of the belligerent and disposition of the mediating powers may require. For this purpose you are to make the most candid & confidential communications to thc ministers of our generous Ally the King of France to undertake nothing in the Negotiations for Peace or truce without their knowledge & concurrence & ultimately to govern yourselves by their advice & opinion endeavouring in your whole Conduct to make them sensible how much we rely upon his majestys influence for effectual support in every Thing that may be necessary to the present security or future Prosperity of the United States of America.

If a Difficulty should arise in the Course of the Negotiations for Peace from the backwardness of Britain to make a formal acknowledgment of our independence you are at liberty to agree to a trucc or to make such other concessions as may not affect the substance of what we contend for; and provided Great Britain be not left in possession of any part of the thirteen States.

Saml. Huntington President

Witnessed this day by Chas Thomson secy

 

[SchubroProductions]

More BOS goodness from the Savage BOS review. These look to be filler pages created to fill in entries for James Madison. The left page is from James Madison to Caleb Wallace, 23 August 1785. The right page is from Williams Grayson to James Madison, 21 August 1785. So they aren't even in order of how they were received, but if you want to stay SA you put in them in your book like that.

 

[funboy1013xx]

that's cool! great job so far!!

 

[SchubroProductions]

Today's BOS page breakdown is from Abe Lincoln and Andrew Johnson. The page to the left is from a letter from Abe Lincoln to
Senator Charles Sumner on May 19th. You can see the top four sentences are repeats from the paragraph below.
"so that they can have the benefit of the provisions [for] the" and "children in fact, of Colored soldiers who fell in our service". The full paragraph below reads:
“The bearer of this is the widow of Major Booth, who fell at Fort Pillow. She makes a point which I think very worthy of consideration which is, widows and children in fact, of Colored soldiers who fell in our service, be placed in law, the same as if their marriages were legal, so that they can have the benefit of the provisions [for] the widows and orphans of white soldiers. Please see and hear Mrs. Booth.” I'm assuming this was done to fill the page and not necessarily tell a story.

The right page is the letter from Andrew Johnson which is the Sioux Treaty. The movement of pages in this BOS means this page was Lincoln's last entry before Johnson started his section.

 

[SchubroProductions]

Pages 6 and 7 of Ross' BOS book are excerpts from George Washington's Papers, Series 1, School Copy Book, Volume 1. It is a series of drawings and Geometry Definitions. Page 7 is a response from George Washington to Cambray-Dignay on April 4, 1778. This is in a response from a letter from Benjamin Franklin about Cambray.
Benjamin Franklin had written GW from “Passy near Paris” on 10 Sept. 1777: “The Bearer, M. deCambray proposes to go to America with a View of entring into our Service. He is strongly recommended tome by the Duke de Rochefoucauld, who is not only a warm Friend to our Cause, but an excellent Judge ofmilitary Merit. I enclose his Letter, with a State of M. de Cambray’s Services which I receiv’d from anotherHand, whereby it appears that he is skill’d in Engineering; and as you cannot have too much of that Sciencein your Army, I have the greater Confidence that you will find this Gentleman useful, I therefore take theLiberty of recommending him to your Excellency’s Protection, and of expressing my hopes that our Servicewill be made agreable to him” (DLC: Benjamin Franklin Papers).

​

 

[Petertiger]

I did a replica of the book of secrets a few years ago for someone was not 100 % screen accurate and a lot of it was hand drawn and written, however here's some the stuff i used inside as some of the inserts sadly some was lost when i backup my computer so this is all i could find ntbs 6 is an easter egg from hellboy also included Abigall's id id did in photoshop hope it helps you out

 

[SchubroProductions]

I did a replica of the book of secrets a few years ago for someone was not 100 % screen accurate and a lot of it was hand drawn and written, however here's some the stuff i used inside as some of the inserts sadly some was lost when i backup my computer so this is all i could find ntbs 6 is an easter egg from hellboy also included Abigall's id id did in photoshop hope it helps you out

I'm trying to get it as screen accurate as possible, so sourcing the files Ross used is fairly time-consuming. Thank goodness he took a bunch of pictures from his site and book along with the auctions from the prop store. Unfortunately, some of the hero books have different inserts and page numbers. Sourcing some of the historical writings from various presidents is tough but fun.

 

[SchubroProductions]

This is a breakdown of both some text in the Savage reviewed book and insert not previously seen (at least in my previous research). The insert is the upper right torn portion of a map with both front and back images. The text in this particular image is from Thomas Jefferson's letter to Angelica Schuyler Church August 17, 1788. You can barely make out the first sentence at the top of the page.

"The urn is well worth acceptance, my dear Madam, on it’s own account, for it is a perfect beauty: but it is more flattering to me to"
The map is the upper right corner of the Amerique Septentrionale. The other image is on the back of the insert and is the lower right corner of the same map. Seems to be that both images are either printed or pasted together like that.


The page to the left is from John Adams to Thomas Jefferson, Bath Motel Westminster June 3, 1785.
The research continues.

 

[SchubroProductions]

I have made a ton of these inserts so far. I had these printed out on ledger paper. I have to crop and age it all. Research continues.

 

[SchubroProductions]

Finished several inserts including the Victoria Grace document, Territories Map, Dakota Railroad Map, and two new ones which I discovered in the Adam Savage review. The New Map of North America including newly Discovered Territories 1797 and the Amerique Septentrionale Torn Map. You can see both in the Adam Review and my renditions.

 

[SchubroProductions]

Today's entry review is the two-page Lincoln spread that also showcases the 2 JFK vehicle photos which happen to be attached to a route of Kennedy's motorcade. The page to the left is Lincolns address to the Cabinet members in August 23, 1864 and the page to the right is Lincolns letter to John Bennett in Springfield, January 15, 1846, Again these pages based on the dates are out of order but are filler pages that I believe Ross MacDonald used to fill the gaps between Presidents.

The right page has the text duplicating mid-way through. Transcription is below:

Springfield, Jany. 15- 1846
Nathan Dresser is here, and speaks
as though the contest between Hardin & me is to be
doubtful in Menard county. I know he is candid,
and this alarms me some. I asked him to tell
me the names of the men that were going
strong for Hardin; he said Morris was about as
strong as any. Now tell me, is Morris going it
openly? You remember you wrote me, that he would
be neutral. Nathan also said that some man (who
he could not remember) had said lately, that Menard
county was again to decide the contest; and
that that made the contest very doubtful. Do you know who that was?
doubtful in Menard county. I know he is candid,
and this alarms me some. I asked him to tell
me the names of the men that were going
strong for Hardin; he said Morris was about as
strong as any. Now tell me, is Morris going it
openly? You remember you wrote me, that he would
be neutral. Nathan also said that some man (who
he could not remember) had said lately, that Menard
county was again to decide the contest; and
that that made the contest very doubtful. Do you know who that was?

Don't fail to write me instantly on receiving this, telling me all---, particularly the names of those who are going strong against me.

Yours as ever, A. LINCOLN

 

[SchubroProductions]

Today's insert comes from the George Washington entry where he has a financial ledger list on the right side of the page. I managed to find the original page used for the book. The first pic is the used in Ross' book, the second is the original document photoshopped to fit the narrative of the book. The left page and document is reference in a previous post above.

 

[DracoAdamantus]

I am so so interested in this project! I've always loved the Book of Secrets props and wondered what else was in there. I have to ask, do you plan on either selling finished replicas or digital copies of the transcribed pages? I'd love to add or make one of these for my own eclectic book collection.

 

[SchubroProductions]

I am so so interested in this project! I've always loved the Book of Secrets props and wondered what else was in there. I have to ask, do you plan on either selling finished replicas or digital copies of the transcribed pages? I'd love to add or make one of these for my own eclectic book collection.

Haven't really figured that part out yet. Between the transcribing of pages, determining fonts, etc, I don't know if would be worth assembling these books on a mass basis. I know Taz and Sarednab have already created a wonderful book. I believe there are still some being sold out there.

 

[DracoAdamantus]

Haven't really figured that part out yet. Between the transcribing of pages, determining fonts, etc, I don't know if would be worth assembling these books on a mass basis. I know Taz and Sarednab have already created a wonderful book. I believe there are still some being sold out there.

I was actually more interested in the files to print, bind, and age my own book from, if you'll be willing to share those. I actually spoke with Sarednab this morning and they said they don't distribute any of their files (understandably, as they are still selling the book)

 

[SchubroProductions]

It will probably be awhile before I create the full digital files. I am still trying to transcribe the screen grabs that I have. And then fill in the rest with my own entries. What I will probably end up doing is creating a list of all the presidents and there associated pages and page numbers with reference to where I found the text along with what the transcribed text is if needed. What font I used for each president and each insert and where it's supposed to go. Everything is out on the internet but it has taken me a while to find and I'm not even close to being done. The list should help everyone get closer to making there own. I will keep you updated.

 

[SchubroProductions]

A little reference on the City of Gold page. We have the page from the movie on right side obviously, but the page on the left is the John Adams Peace Treaty entry seen earlier as a double spread with the Tin Type Baby photo. I wish they had used another page as filler for this section.

 

[SchubroProductions]

Another spread down. This one is a little weird because the President's entries are out of order. On the Left page is an excerpt of the Inaugural Speech from Benjamin Harrison. The Right Page is a Senate Nomination Withdrawl of a Chaplain by John Tyler. Harrison was a good 13 presidents after Tyler, yet his entry shows before him in this particular production book.