Article Written by Duncan Burden

The burning of the Library of Alexandria is lamented as being the greatest loss of literary treasures in history. As the manuscripts burnt to ashes, it is extremely unlikely that they will ever be seen again, even if we knew in full what writings were actually lost. Even so, there still exists a list of literary treasures waiting to be found. Some are considered to be either mythical or objects of fantasy, but some are unquestionable texts lost – perhaps waiting to be discovered!

1) The Sibylline Books

The Sibylline Books were a collection of prophetic Greek verses which were said to have been spoken and written down by a Sibyl (a female soothsayer). These particular books were meant to have been bought by the last king of Rome, Tarquinius Superbus. They were kept and consulted during times of crisis through Rome’s Republic and Empirical periods. The original collection was meant to have consisted of nine books, but as Tarquinius haggled on the purchase, the Sibyl burnt three of them and then still demanded the same price. Tarquinius foolishly haggled again, and again the soothsayer burnt three more and demanded the full price.

Fearing the rest would be lost, the king accepted and bought the books and placed them in the vault of the Temple of Jupiter. The Roman Senate took immense care and control of the books, engaging special guardians and interpreters. Unfortunately the original books were reported to be lost in a fire in 83 BC, but in 76 BC another collection was purchased from around the Empire. In 12 BC these were examined and copied, but again these were burnt in 405 AD. Only a few fragments now survive, but researchers still hope that some of the 12 BC copies still exist and will be found somewhere.

2)The Book of M

‘The Book of M’ is really the Holy Grail of legendary texts, in that many believe it is just a literary device referred to in the famous Rosicrucian papers named the ‘Fama’ and ‘Confessio’. Although, many take these in early 17^th century esoteric texts as being genuine, or at least allegorical descriptions of a real lost book. In the ‘Fama’ it describes that ‘The Book of M’ was written in a special language that was possibly magical in its own right. The book is meant to contain the ‘secrets of the world’ and could only be read by members of the Rose Cross itself, namely the Rosicrucians.

A copy of the book has never been found or reported to have been seen outside of the descriptions found in the described accounts in the ‘Fama’ and ‘Confession’. Excluding the mythical qualities of the Book, it could be argued that descriptions match the famous 15^th century book called the ‘Voynich Manuscript.’ The book is held at the Yale University Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. It’s strange images and writing has never been deciphered.

3) Inventio Fortunata and the Itinerarium

This entry on the list conveys a coincidence of tragedy of two separate books that both are now lost and both contain the same information. The first is a manuscript called the ‘Inventio Fortunata’ which means ‘The Discovery of the Fortunate Islands’. The text was written by an unknown Franciscan monk from Oxford in the 14^th century, who apparently traveled across the North Atlantic and recorded the geography of the Arctic. Through his account it appears he believed he was describing the North Pole, but even with the error, the text was of extreme value during the age of exploration of the early renaissance.

A copy of the book is said to have been given to King Edward III, and rumors existed that a further five copies were passed around important libraries and private collections in Europe. Unfortunately all copies are now lost. Its existence is noted when in 1364, another Franciscan monk described the contents to a Flemish author named Jacob Cnoyen. Cnoyen reiterated the information in his own book, ‘Itinerarium’. Unfortunately, this book also has gone missing. Given the popularity and the importance of both these books, hope remains that they, or copies could still be found.

4) The Golden Book of Mormon

In 1823, a Joseph Smith claimed he was directed by an angel named ‘Moroni’ to a small hill near his home in Manchester, New York. Here he is said to have found book made of gold pages, written in a strange language, which he called ‘reformed Egyptian’. With the help of the angel and special artifacts, Joseph was able to translate the text. This translation became known as the Book of Mormon and is the primary religious text of The Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter- Day Saints, offered as an additional section of the Bible.

The text itself gives a long a Biblical like history of early America, written in a form similar in rhetoric as the King James Bible. The depth of the account has often been given as support of the authenticity of Joseph Smith’s story, as the style and continuity appears to be beyond that of a single individual composing it on a whim. In addition, many researchers have linked various elements of the stories to contemporary discoveries found of ancient Mayan and Aztec cultures, concepts Joseph could not have been aware of. Unfortunately, Joseph states that after he had finished the translation the angel took the golden book away, but given that Mayan and Aztec cultures wrote in a hieroglyphic language and are renown for their work in gold, many treasure hunters believe in the lost Book of Mormon and still seek it today.

5) William Shakespeare’s ‘Cardenio’ and ‘Love’s Labours Won’

Shakespeare’s work is already taken as a treasure to literature, so imagine the impact that not only one, but two of his works are still recorded as being lost! During the 17^th century, it was rare for a full script ever to be written. The primary reason for this is simple practicality – rather than write out an entire script for each member of the cast, playwrights, like Shakespeare, would only write the lines for each character independently, giving only the intro (or clue) line to the actor so they would know when to speak. As such, complete scripts only came about when the individual scripts were brought together and copied, as such, some plays were never fully recorded by even the playwrights.

In 1613 Shakespeare’s own theatrical group, the King’s Men, were known to have performed a play for King James I, called ‘Cardenio’. No script of this play has ever been found, giving it as the first lost treasure of Shakespeare. The second lost play is one called ‘Love’s Labours Won’. This title was first found in a list of plays dated in 1598, and was assumed to have been an alternative name for Shakespeare’s ‘Taming of the Shrew’. Although when it appeared again in a separate list 1603, in which ‘Taming of the Shrew’ was also listed, it was accepted as a lost play.

The strange thing is, a possibility exists for them still to be found. Theatres, during the 17^th century, were big business and the popularity of a play could be very lucrative, as such, playwrights would have problems of some members of the audience attempting to memorize and later write down the scripts to sell them. As such, copies could still exist, possibly with the title changed and sold to alternative theatres to perform. The hunt continues.

6) The Book of Thoth

The Book of Thoth is often confused with the Book of the Dead, which itself is a collection of ancient Egyptian texts. The confusion stems from the assertion from Egyptian historian Manetho, who recorded the legend that Thoth had written a total of 36,525 books. As both refer to a collection of works, the Book of Thoth and the Book of the Dead have unfortunately been used as intertwined concepts. In fact, the actual Book of Thoth relates to a story from Ptolemaic period of Egypt.

The account states that the book holds two spells; one of which empowers the reader to understand the speech of animals and the other to allow the reader to hear the gods. The Book was originally said to have been found in the riverbed of the Nile, locked in a series of boxes guarded by snakes. It was discovered by an Egyptian prince named Neferkaptah, who was punished by the gods for finding it. Eventually he was buried with the book in a hidden tomb. The story is generally taken as a complete myth, but speculation does exist if some basis of truth still exists, that an ancient text exists waiting to be found in a lost tomb.

7) Bruno Schulz’s ‘The Messiah’

Bruno Schulz was a famous artist and author during his lifetime, and lived in Drohobycz in 1941, when Germany recaptured the town. Being Jewish, he was forced to live in the ghetto, but was befriended by a Gestapo officer named Felix Landau. In acknowledgement of artistic work, Landau gave Bruno extra food and sense of protection. Unfortunately a rival Gestapo, Karl Günther, shot Bruno because Landau had killed a Jewish barber that Günther was protecting – later boasting ‘You killed my Jew—I killed yours.’ During this time Bruno was meant to have finished, or held the completing notes for his last book ‘The Messiah’. Although it simply could have been lost, speculation remained that it was entrusted to friends, or was discovered when the Soviet Union reclaimed the town.

In 1987, a man named Alex Schulz, who claimed to be the writer’s cousin, reported that a diplomat or a K.G.B. official, had offered to sell him a collection of Bruno Schulz’s manuscripts, which included ‘The Messiah’. Although a deal was struck, Alex Schulz died of a brain hemorrhage without leaving details of how to collect the papers and the manuscripts never were exchanged. Later a Swedish ambassador to Warsaw, claimed that he was aware that the manuscripts were hidden in former K.G.B. archives. This ambassador stated that he had learned about this from a “Russian” who had come upon the packet by accident, hidden under the name of an unknown Polish male. Attempts to verify this have been unsuccessful, although one report states that an exchange was about to take place, but a car accident killed the Russian agent involved and the documents were burnt in the fire.

8) Rauðskinna

‘Rauðskinna’ is the name of a famous lost Icelandic book, also known as ‘The Book of Power’. The name ‘Rauðskinna’ actually translates as ‘Red Skin’, which is meant to describe the unique red leather that binds the pages. The book itself is meant to contain full descriptions of black/evil magic, including the ability to control the Devil himself. Ironically this evil relic was meant to have been written by a Bishop named, Gottskálk grimmi Nikulasson, (meaning Gottskalk Nikulausson the Cruel).

Gottskálk was the Bishop of Hólar in Iceland in the early 16^th century. The book is meant to have been buried with Gottskálk himself at an unknown location. A later legend exists that in the early 18^th century, a Loftur Þorsteinsson, was in search of it. Loftur Þorsteinsson was an Icelandic ‘Galdmaster’ – an Icelandic Master Magic. Loftur had become a student of the Latin school at Holar in 1716, where he appeared to have discovered his talent for the magical arts.

He apparently went in search for the ‘Rauðskinna’, but is believed to have either failed, or had become cursed during his adventure. Legend has it that as he was passing over a lake in a fishing boat he was physically dragged under the water and was lost. His body was never found. Whether true or not, Loftur Þorsteinsson is not heard of after 1722, and the actual year of his death is unknown as is the location of Gottskálk grimmi Nikulasson’s grave and the lost ‘Book of Power.’

9) The Works of Aristarchus

Aristarchus of Samos was an ancient Greek mathematician and astronomer. By accounts of his work he was way ahead of his time, and credited as the first person to really hypothesize that the Sun was the center of the solar system – predating the fame of Copernicus by several decades. Aristarchus detailed his work in a book that has subsequently been lost. At least one copy of this work was part of the inventory of the Library of Alexandria and the famous Archimedes wrote in his own work, ‘The Sand Reckoner’ of what was contained in the book of Aristarchus.

‘… Aristarchus of Samos brought out a book consisting of certain hypotheses, in which the premises lead to the result that the universe is many times greater than that now so called. His hypotheses are that the fixed stars and the Sun remain unmoved, that the Earth revolves about the Sun in the circumference of a circle, the Sun lying in the middle of the orbit.’

Unfortunately, with the loss of the Book, the fame of Aristarchus of Samos has also been lost – if a copy of his work could be found perhaps the Copernicus Theory would be renamed the Aristarchus Theory.

10) The Lost Books of the Bible

Although it is fairly commonly known that the ‘Books’ that make up the Bible went through a selection process to remain in the version commonly recognizable today, what is less commonly known is that although the selection took place, the Bible itself still refers to Books that are now lost. For example; in the Book of Numbers there exists a reference to a ‘Book of the Battles of Yahweh’. It is accepted that this book did exist, and would have been familiar to the contemporaries of the time, but is now unknown – as is the contents of the book. Another two lost books are ‘The Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel’ and ‘The Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah’, both are mentioned not only in the First and Second Book of Kings, but also the First and Second Book of Chronicles.

These texts clearly appear to have been genuine and known, possibly even significant texts. Due to this, is it still possible that copies of them could still exist, just waiting to be discovered, possibly with another cache of Dead Sea Scrolls laying silently in a cave!