Monkey's Marginalia No 16

In which Lewis, perhaps, begins to Looper back around....

1. The Three Richard Whalens

I was able to locate Agnes M. Reeve from one of the classified ads I transcribed.
The transcribed ad:

THE OLDEST WRITERS' SERVICE
Literary Agent, established 35 years. Manuscripts criticized, revised, typed, marketed. Special attention to Book manuscripts. Poetry. Catalogue on request.
AGNES M. REEVE,
Dept. B. Franklin, O.

She really was a literary agent out of Franklin, Ohio, but with her husband, James Knapp Reeve.  Asking the google, it turns out he was an author of a few fiction and non-fiction books, including the book, The Three Richard Whalens.

The connections continue uninterrupted to an author named Richard F. Whalen who wrote a book in the 1990s about the Shakespeare authorship question.


2.  Louise Rosenblatt
Readers may remember that I had found Rosenblatt through another ad in the McKay's Magazine review.  Rosenblatt is best known for her transactional theory of literature.  It occurred to me today in a rare flash of insight that it doesn't just apply to us, as readers of S.  It also applies to the history of literature and the ongoing discussion/distillation surrounding different works that can continue long after their initial publication.

3.  The Quincunx with a Maltese falcon thrown in for good measure.  Mix well.

• Thomas Edison is reputed to have a tattoo of a quincunx on his forearm.  
• I found a repeating quincunx pattern at the original memorial to Gavrilo Princip.  Unfortunately, the memorial no longer exists, but a picture from the 1980s clearly shows the pattern. It's the third picture down from the top in the blog post.  In case you need further proof, this site shows a picture of the start of the pattern from the front.  Again, you will need to scroll down to view. 
• The book Ill Met by Moonlight by W. Stanley Moss mentions a few books that Moss had with him. In his possession he had something written by Sir Thomas Browne.  Browne was a polymath from the 17th century and one of his known works is The Garden of Cyrus, or the Quincunciall Lozenge.  According to wikipedia, its pretty dense stuff and deals with a number of topics relating to the number five, including hermeticism.  I took a look at it, and just from the bit of latin that he quotes untranslated, I'm sure this book is not for the faint of heart, even if it so happens that there are five of you. He did, however, write a few other tomes which may be more accessible to readers who may find themselves with a lingering curiosity over Sir Browne.   
• The term MacGuffin was popularized by Alfred Hitchcock, but it has existed as a plot device for much longer.  The Maltese Falcon, is notable for its use of the titular falcon as a MacGuffin.  In relation to S.,  perhaps just as significant is Sam Spade's investigation of the death of his partner, Miles Archer.  The falcon's initial importance is emphasized by this text from the opening of the film: 

In 1539 the Knight Templars of Malta, paid tribute to Charles V of Spain, by sending him a Golden Falcon encrusted from beak to claw with rarest jewels—but pirates seized the galley carrying this priceless token and the fate of the Maltese Falcon remains a mystery to this day —

• Falcons do have a very real association with the island of Malta.  The Knights of Malta are a religious order with a long history.  They were also known as the Knights Hospitaller, the Hospitallers, Order of Hospitallers, Knights of Saint John and Order of Saint John.  Established during the Crusades, the modern day continuation of the order is found in Rome as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. During their history, they did have an established presence in Malta by paying tribute to the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V.  The tribute was a single falcon presented to the emperor's representative in Siciliy annually on All Saints day.  
• Another interesting component of the religious order is one of their religious symbols, the Maltese cross. The four arms of the cross are v-shaped with two points on each arm, making for a total of eight points on the cross.  I do wonder if the cross could be a kind of "double quincunx."  Instead of side by side, simply superimpose one quincunx over the other and rotate slightly.  One of the possible patterns would look very much like the Maltese cross. 

(8/21/14 edit for grammar)