THE PAPERS

The documents that have come into the party’s hands, bound in as they are found.

Carried from Vienna — the papers that pointed east.

• The Intercepted LetterBrotherhood correspondence, partially decoded in Lord Harcourt’s pencil — laid on the table at the Palais Modena briefing, 7 August 1814. Five of eight. An arrow from Vienna to Calcutta, marked Priority.
• Letter from CalcuttaFound unsealed on Herzfeld’s desk during the University assault, and read once the party was clear. Six weeks at sea before it reached Vienna. Signed by an Acharya of the Mandir Mahakali, Baranagar Ghat.

Calcutta — the papers in hand.

• The Escort’s LetterTown Major’s Office, Fort William — presented by Havildar Pratap Singh on the landing steps at Chandpal Ghat, within minutes of the party coming ashore.
• The Magistrate’s CardBrought to the Cavendish Compound by the Magistrate’s chuprassy on Saturday evening, in a scarlet sash, who waited at the gate for an answer.
• The Bill of FareLaid at the head and foot of the Magistrate’s table at Garden Reach as dinner was announced, Sunday the 9th of October — the same careful hand as the card that invited them.
• Harcourt’s Letter of IntroductionSent ahead by the spring fleet against the party’s arrival, and pressed into Freddy’s hands by Meg at the Cavendish Compound.
• The Salisbury LetterMr Duffield of Salisbury to Miss Wentworth, the 14th of May 1814 — five months at sea, waiting at the agency house against the sisters’ arrival, and sent up with the morning post.
• The Government House CardBy command of the Earl of Moira — brought to the Cavendish Compound by a Government House hurkaru with the Monday morning round, the 10th of October. The ball, Tuesday evening at nine.
• The Hunt ArrangementsFrom the Magistrate’s office, the 10th of October — on the same Monday tray as the Salisbury letter, by the same chuprassy and in the same clerk’s hand as the dinner card. Saturday the 15th, assembly at Garden Reach at five.

From the Calcutta Gazette Office — the back files, read on the morning of the 10th of October.

• The Zorab Sale CatalogueThe current paper — the advertisement that ran on the 5th and 8th of October. The sale is Wednesday the 12th, six in the evening, at the Zorab godown on the Strand.
• The Inquest NoticesThe Gazette’s weekly returns of the 17th of September and the 8th of October, mounted together.
• The Burial GroundA notice from early October’s paper, in the same stack.
• The Nocturnal AssembliesA letter to the editor from September’s paper; the writer stood on the river bank on the 3rd.
• The Missing LascarsTwo notices of 1814, six weeks apart, on one mount.
• Absent from the Botanic GardenA notice that ran on the 20th and 27th of August and the 3rd and 10th of September, and then stopped.
• The Pamphlet That Never AppearedA subscription advertisement from April 1813, repeated in May. No publication notice followed it.
• The Correspondence That StopsThree letters across three consecutive issues of 1811, and nothing after them in 1812 or 1813.

Prop pages for the Canticle of the End campaign. Print with “Background graphics” ticked; each sheet is one printed page. Paper textures: Wikimedia Commons, public domain.