the discovery of a lost treasure
The [Lost?] History of Cardenio
In what can only be described as one of the most exciting archival discoveries of the past 150 (200? (250??)) years, a group of young Fenwickian researchers has unearthed a treasure rarer and more valuable than the artifacts for which Indiana Jones risked life and limb in at least 3 out of the 5 blockbuster films, perhaps even 4 out of 5 (the Grail is tough to beat). An authentic copy The History of Cardenio, last known to have been performed by Shakespeare's King's Men in 1613, has been discovered in a box marked "Fools by Heavenly Compulsion."
The play, which tells the story of the eponymous Cardenio whose quixotic nature and divine madness -- though, mind you, not the divine madness described by Plato -- has been desired by every true reader of Shakespeare since its absence was noted in the Stationers' Register of 1653. That a copy should be unearthed in the Fenwick Archives -- and that it should appear less than 2 months after a young scholar from a lesser institution who in no way has anything to do with our beloved University boldly proclaimed, in public, that she "hope[d] the text would one day be found" -- seems more than fortuitous. Indeed, some might even call it providential.
shakespeare's masterpiece unearthed
The Discovery According to the Fenwickians
Notifying Immediate Past President Joseph of their discovery, the young Fenwickian archivists described their experience thusly:
We happened upon a manuscript during one of our adventures to the Fenwick archives. We originally found ourselves digging around the archives not in search of this manuscript . . . but rather, to retrieve an historic ring which had been the property of a renown Fenwick Professor Regninald Llyod, who held the Guy Fawkes Chair of English Literature between 1897 and 1928. Professor Llyod, according to our senior sources, was known to bang the ring against his oaken lectern in the heat of lecture -- apparently he was quite passionate (and opinionated) about the Shakespeare religion debate and would frequently dent his lectern when he taught his course on English Recusant literature. He would wear it on his right ring finger. Apparently when he would turn back papers, if the class did well the ring would be worn as normal, but if the class did poorly (this occurrence was typically confined to freshmen classes, filled with students who were trained in merely rehearsing the ideas of others not bringing ideas to life) he would turn the ring around. We never ended up finding the ring, perhaps we will find it in a future visit to the archives. Anyway, enough about this comely lost ring. In one of the boxes we were sifting through we fortunately came across a stack of papers titled “Cardenio Production.” After looking through the documents we tasked ourselves with compiling all we had found to send to you. What you find here is all the documents relating to Fenwick University’s production of Cardenio. I hope you enjoy our findings, we will be searching the archives for even more material from our illustrious university’s historic rendition of this once lost play.
What the email from these charming young Fenwickians does not make clear is why they decided to create and provide IPP Joseph with replicas of the original documents, rather than the authentic items. As anyone with eyes can see, the documents compiled below are are not the genuine articles but -- in this web designer's opinion -- poorly made copies which may (or, likely, may not) resemble the originals without embellishment or addition.
de cuyo nombre no quiero acordarme
Why the Elaborate Ruse?
Why the young Fenwickian archivists felt it necessary to fabricate the documents PDFed above rather than produce the originals is a bit of a mystery. One may conjecture, however, that they have done so with some end in mind. Perhaps they are playing an elaborate and intricate game of their own? As their email to IPP Joseph, cited above, suggests, they are still scouring the archives for documents related to the marvelous discovery they have made. (And we ought not to downplay what a marvel it is!). What will those documents contain? And will these furtive young scholars unmask their research, sharing the wonder of their discoveries with the world, or will they, like their predecessor -- Louis Light, Keeper of Secrets and Master of the Vault -- insist upon secrecy, deception, and downright buffoonery in order to keep from the eyes of the world the beauties and treasures reserved only for the few (indeed, very few) who they deem worthy of seeing them?
Only time, as the saying goes, will tell . . .