I don’t know why it didn’t pop into my head sooner, but I always get confused at my local library that still uses the traditional Dewey Decimal System, not LC (Library of Congress) as most academic libraries do. LC #’s start with 2 letters, but rh has not been needed to be assigned yet. I didn’t know there were various blends of the system, often customized by a man named Cutter. Riverside may have been using a Cutter classification system, especially as they were just about to go under a massive expansion and now they use LC.
And wasn’t Ross responsible for writing the letters on the books?
I thought this particular example was useful:
The entire paper can be found here:
https://www.ischool.utexas.edu/~miksa/p … es-ch7.pdf)
With an explanation of epigram found here:
http://literarydevices.net/epigram/
The author might have thought his "Sick of living/unwilling to die" fit the definition and was classifying his poem.
-marie
The problem when solved will be simple– Kettering
This is very interesting. It bothers me that the supposed signature is "rh" in lower-case, and I don’t know anyone who doesn’t use capital letters when signing their name or using their initials. Which makes me think it may not be a signature at all.
If the author was concerned about hiding his identity, even more reason to think those aren’t his initials.
I had written a reply to this a few days ago but I bored myself with too many words lol.
I have to say it’s my favorite suggestion so far but I unfortunately don’t think that makes it in any way likely. If it had been signed Rh I’d be all excited but it’s not. It’s signed rh so that’s already incorrect. Also, if it’s not the initials of the author then there’s a reason for that. Not wanting to be identified. If you are already cognitive of that then I can’t see why you would produce a clue that would risk that anonymity. Especially if you are planning to or already have embarked on the journey that will lead to The Zodiac.
“I don’t know Chief, he’s very smart or very dumb.“
Maybe rh copied the poet, e.e. cummings.
Maybe rh copied the poet, e.e. cummings.
Very likely. Modernist style, lower case letters, etc.
It’s in tune with the rest of the thing.
Has no bearing on whether the initials are his/her actual initials, IMO. It’s stylistic, probably nothing more.
I do have to agree, this is a very boring topic (at least on its face), but I am going to look into it a bit more. There are many variants of the classification system, and a lot use lower case.
To me, there was always something wrong with assuming they were initials, the largest being lack of punctuation- r.h. ??? Mostly because there wasn’t lack of punctuation in the poem, so why if it is his initials would he suddenly not use any. Again, it could be artistic, but is just something to think about. (When I sometimes sign my posts -m, its just laziness, and I have no reason for sometimes writing out my full name, not, capitalizing, etc.)
And maybe what could prove interesting is where you find ciphering; and "library handwriting"- who knew there was such a thing? They are both under Z in the LC system. A zynchronicity? Perhaps.
We also don’t know what the "standard handwriting" Riverside was using. And didn’t Ross write a report on handwriting? If you look below, the best so far I could find of "library handwriting" was from a book in 1899, full page available at https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/A_Library_Primer_(1899)/Chapter_XVII If you scroll down to the printed version, while they use a capped a and a flourishy g and others, the spacing and style is hauntingly reminiscent of the "Button Letter" where he writes "This is the Zodiac speaking" and his abilities to write clearly in his ciphers.
And one last thing, I am going to find out how/when/etc. RCC used LC, and maybe even what their standard handwriting was for call numbers at the time Ross worked there. Is there anyone onlist who could go check some of the older stacks, particularly from the sixties?
I am sure now call numbers are now printed from a computer and stickered on.
Sorry for probably being long and boring. But I am going to keep looking into it.
-m
The problem when solved will be simple– Kettering
I was going thru old post on the Ross pro/cons thread and found this:
Me too! Can’t wait to get the card and login key to get searching. Defo is next order of business.
Take a look at the RCC copy of "Codes and Ciphers." It contains the Zodiac Alphabet and might have been there the same time Ross was.
Interestingly, the call number comes up Z104 .L23 c.2 . I won’t bore you with details, but the Z class is where you find handwriting and ciphers, as I mentioned in my post above. But there is one more interesting thing (I have learned way to much about library organization lately) is the c.2 which means it is the second copy. I wonder what happened to the first copy? Another zynchronicity?
-m
The problem when solved will be simple– Kettering
Interestingly, the call number comes up Z104 .L23 c.2 . I won’t bore you with details, but the Z class is where you find handwriting and ciphers, as I mentioned in my post above. But there is one more interesting thing (I have learned way to much about library organization lately) is the c.2 which means it is the second copy. I wonder what happened to the first copy? Another zynchronicity?
-m
I appreciate your attention to detail, I think that is always valuable. The letter Z here may or may not be simply zynchronicity, but if there is a missing copy of the book it might be a potential addition to the very short list of physical evidence traceable back to a suspect — along with the Stein keys, shirt and wallet.
