I picked up this book from the library while I was there getting some other reading material for the break, and it looked extremely promising. It is about Roger Bacon and the undeciphered Voynich manuscript. The book started off very promisingly, recounting the modern rediscovery of the book, but...
As the city was responsible for providing funeral services for the indigent, I assumed that the Department of Health would have a record of a young woman recently buried in Potter’s Field. I sent word to the hospital that I was ill, then journeyed downtown to check the records of recent interment...
Of these, the undeniable apex was Paris. Paris had been the beneficiary of a happy combination of convenient geography, a pleasant climate, status as a capital city, and an enthusiastic, devout line of kings. “The Italians have the Papacy, the Germans have the Empire, and the French have Learning...