Greetings one and all:
I'm working on a play in which the Titanic's jeweled "Rubiáyát" serves as the fulcrum of action.
In the play, somehow the book was spirited off the stricken vessel. The how and why of all this is deliberately rather hazy, suffice to say that the volume has circulated (or not circulated) just under the legal marketplace since 1912.
Now, it has surfaced, and adventure and danger are the results.
My question, if Mr. Behe visits these parts, is if he, or anyone, knows anything about Gabriel Weis. I had the impression (don't know why) that the book was headed for the Morgan Library, which makes the book's loss even more acute. The Rubiáyát's sensual poetry concerns life, lovemaking, drinking, and the frustrating search for a divine presence in creation.
Here is the tycoon's latest acquisition, on the ship his wealth helped make and on which he'd nearly made passage himself. It is a ship built with extraordinary concern for comfort, especially of its First Class, but, what better a vessel to carry a copy of the humble tentmaker's poems, decorated with 1,295 jewels?
I don't necessarily need to let the facts get in the way of a good story, but, being an aficionado of the disaster since reading Mr. Lord's book when I was 14, I'd like to try to at least lend an air of probability to the tale.
My direct e-mail is
harrykollatz@hotmail.com
Cheers.
Harry