The Curious Case of the Manufactured Manuscripts

An interesting look at the history of created books. The author has an intriguing theory that the Voynich Manuscript may be a historical example of the kind of prop tomes frequently discussed here.

Via Eric Hart's Prop Agenda.

The Realm of Salama

Benjamin Castro brings us this beautifully handcrafted tome.

Hospital and Asylum Restraints of the 1920s

Last week I was lucky enough to score a near mint condition copy of a hospital and doctor's supply catalog from 1922. Reading through it over the weekend I was struck by how sophisticated the technology actually was. With the exception of modern electronics and automation I expect a doctor from nearly a century ago would recognize everything in a modern hospital or clinic. Dressings, surgical tools, examination equipment...it's all the same, at least to the untrained eye of a layman.

Here's a page of patient restraints, including prices. There's no doubt gear like this could be cruelly misused, but the devices seem genuinely humane. The restraint sheet is a far cry from the infamous "Utica Crib" that was used at the New York State Lunatic Asylum just down the road from my home. Click through for the high resolution version.

The Slime

Allen Hopps of Stiltbeast Studios is an incredibly creative guy. One of the things I like about him the most is that he's able to see the prop possibilities behind the simplest of materials. In this video he demonstrates how simple school glue and borax produces a polymerized goo that can be used to create everything from slime and ectoplasm to zombie makeup and icicles. It's so cheap to make that you can whip up a gallon for less than the price of lunch at a fast food joint.

I made some small batches of this stuff years ago as a kitchen science project with the kids, but it never clicked just how useful it could be.

The Angell Box

"Much of the material which I correlated will be later published by the American Archaeological Society, but there was one box which I found exceedingly puzzling, and which I felt much averse from shewing to other eyes. It had been locked, and I did not find the key till it occurred to me to examine the personal ring which the professor carried always in his pocket. Then indeed I succeeded in opening it, but when I did so seemed only to be confronted by a greater and more closely locked barrier. For what could be the meaning of the queer clay bas-relief and the disjointed jottings, ramblings, and cuttings which I found? Had my uncle, in his latter years, become credulous of the most superficial impostures?"

Jason McKittrick brings us this recreation of the late Prof. Angell's mysterious box from "The Call of Cthulhu". This is one of those projects that successfully uses a collection of props to tell a story. Each little bit, from a journal entry to a notation on a photograph, helps build up the narrative. That kind of narrative by accretion requires both quality and quantity to have an impact. I can just imagine the hours of work that went into pulling this off.

This shot illustrates one of the difficulties in putting together a set like this. You not only have to create items like the bas-relief and idol that are included with it, but all of the supplementary props pictured in the photographs. It's a huge effort, whether you do it physically or via Photoshop.







You can see more pictures of the complete set in it's listing on Ebay. Given the time it took to put it together I expect it will go for a goodly sum.

Travelling Spellbook

Russian leathercrafter "Shattan" brings us this beautiful spellbook. It's a personal bias, but I bet it would be spectacular after an aging treatment. Wear and tear along the edges, accumulated grime in the crevices, flakes of the gilding worn off...

The Oracle

K.M. Kotulak brings us this intriguing amulet. I believe it's polymer clay with a glass taxidermy eye.