University of Brattleboro

As readers of this column are well aware, I, Dr. Balderdash, am the Dean of the University of Brattleboro, the oldest non-existent university in New England. And, as readers also might recall, university faculty have been studying the notebooks of T. P. James, the very real conman who lived in Brattleboro in the 1870s. (People wishing to learn more about James can check out the chapter I wrote in, "Print Town: Brattleboro's Legacy of Words," which was published by the very real Vermont Historical Society. See, https://brattleborowords.org/print-town-brattleboros-legacy-of-words-the-book/). This image you see of many people in a crowd, is a "Sentence Painting," a cryptogram that is not composed of letters or numbers, or simple symbols. Look closely at the faces, what do you notice? Are there any single letter words? What are the only single letter words in English? Can you, or any children you know and love, crack the code?" The ink of the original image has been tested and determined to be walnut ink, dating to around 1860 to 1890. He entitled the picture, "The People on Sunday," and left a little note. "Buildings, and joy, like democracies, are ephemeral. I love all of them, before and after they disappear. I hope someone finds the glass egg. I lifted it from a vendor in Boston. (He should have taken more care not to leave it out on the table like that)." That's all we have in the notebook as a means of explanation. We do know that T. P. James left many treasures, (most are really beautiful, though not of enormous financial value) all over Brattleboro. So, the University of Brattleboro faculty are pretty sure if you crack this code, and think a bit, you will be able to discover exactly where to look for this egg art object. It will require, though, to take his little doggerel poem, and pay close attention to every word, especially ones that don't seem obvious. Why did he choose that word instead of some other word? Does it give a hint as to what building in Brattleboro he is thinking of? One point of reference is that T. P. James left Brattleboro in 1879 — fleeing town with a woman who would become his 4th wife. So, any building he is talking about must have been built prior to that date. One odd thing our researchers noted, was that in his poem, T. P. James mentions a "bird" and yet his treasure appears to be an egg. Was T. P. James more of a poet than we may have given him credit for? Is he asking readers and puzzle finders to ponder something about time? Or, does it have some impact on the meaning of his poem? In general, it can be said that the poem is about some people loving what other people fear, or "run" from. Birds of course, fly. Is that verb an intentional overlap with the word "run"? Whatever T. P. James was writing about. The one thing that is clear, is that he was trying to express empathy for both groups. He may have been a conman, but he was sometimes a kind and decent fellow. If you crack the code and think you know where the treasure is, be sure to bring replacement treasure made out of natural materials from Experienced Goods in Brattleboro. You want the next person to have the joy of finding something in the same space you took treasure from. Also, it is possible that you will get there and someone before you will have found the treasure and left you without any. If so, I am sorry you were exposed to that thoughtlessness. Please be kind and take the pleasure of restocking the gift spot. Also, if you find the treasure, please send a photo of it to our email, booksfromvermont@yahoo.com Be sure to put "TREASURE JOY" in the subject line, or else I will never find your letter. Rolf and Cynthia Parker-Houghton live in Brattleboro, and run the University of Brattleboro. They fund their free events, including these treasure hunts, by selling t-shirts. You can find these at the Harmony Collective in Brattleboro, or online at www.houghtonart.com.