How the Old Orders Hid Knowledge in Plain Sight

It was never hidden in cipher. It was hidden in plain sight, and most of it still is.

Six methods of concealment, only two of which survived, and neither is a code. How to read a text that was sealed, the old chemical literature as a technical manual in figurative dress, and what the orders actually withheld — which was not information.

Inside

• Why anything gets hidden — four reasons, only one of them self-interested, and how to tell which you are looking at
• The six methods — and why only two of them survived, neither being a cipher
• Reading a text that was sealed — six questions in order, plus the caution that saves years
• The great concealed art — the old chemical literature read as a technical manual in figurative dress
• The word given in person — the method still in use everywhere, and its three properties
• Building your own sealed record — the four things worth writing down, which are not the things people write
• What the orders actually withheld — three things, and none of them was information
• The hours of study and setting down, and the numbers in a sealed text
• The four bodies of the reader, including the pleasure that produces false findings
• The Nine Days — ending with a name on a page

Format

• 15-page illustrated PDF, 7 × 10in
• Two plates from a 1603 star atlas
• Instant download, delivered the moment payment clears

Digital product. No physical item is shipped.