The Wichita daily eagle., 1898-01-01
ABOUT rHE BsapFo.D MANuscRrPr
Description of Precious Document
Brought Home After Long Years.
Continued from Eighth Page)

Il
page OF a modern octave volume. II
some places the writing is quite open
Another proof OF genuineness is that ar
insertion, made in the same hand, bu
in different ink, can be seen, writer
after the main text. for the sake of ex
planation- That could not De the work
Of copyist. Another point alleged
against the genuinensss OF the history
was that the paper on which il is writ
ten is not as old as the events which are
| recorded. The question was submitted
TO Lieut.. Gov. Crane, VINO is a profes.
sional paper maker, and he said that
though the paper is in excellent eondi-
ton. there is nothing in the argument
on The ground OF the paper. 1t might
easily nave been made before the events
/ recorded. Il has no water mark. and Is
I evidently rag paper.
Taking the pages as a whole. they
l are wonderfully distinct, and it is easy
( for the novice 10 read them after he has
! become familiar with a few tricks Of the
/ times. The small ''e" is made more like
( our 60" Spelling was OF no account
{ whatever. and several forms OF the
Z same word are found. 1t takes little
: time 10 beone familiar with ''vioag' as
voyage. Sometimes an sc" Is added
to the word, but the strange reversal OF
the vowels as they naturally sound seems
to be uniform. The book is divided in;o
two distinct parts. Bradford wrote a
heading for Chap. H. and then drew
his pen through 1t. He drew lines clear
across the page, and then began new
~y,~ 81. Ira- 90
the time ne should give simply the an
nails of the settlement, selecting only the
events Of most Importance. At the end
OF the second book is beginning for
"Anno 1647'' and for 164S. evidently with
the purpose OF following up the family
sketches which occupy the last part OF
the volume. But only some 20 lines or
50 are written, and they are in column
occupying half OF the page. At the bot
tom OF this column another hand un-
dertook to keep up the record, but only a
few words were written. Two persons
were recorded, OF the original corners. as
alive in 1878. Then followed another en-
try for 1890, another for 1894, and the
final one for 1898. So the book ends.
Under act OF the last legislature a re-
port of the proceedings attending the de-
livery of the history TO Massachusetts,
by Minister Bradford is 10 De prepared
by a special committee. and the whole.
with the history itself, is to printed un-
der the direction Of the secretary OF
state. Fine portraits in photogravure
have been prepared OF Governor WOlcott
Senator Hoar, Minister Bayard, the Rev.
Dr.. Creighton, the BisEOp Of London and
the Rev. Dr.. Temple, the Archbishop CT
Canterbury, who were the English auth
critics by whose favor the invaluable
relic was returned 10 this country. The
preparation Of the work has been dele
gated to Senator Roe OF Worcester, by
whose initiative the publication was Sc
cured. An edition of 5000 copies will ne
printed, Of which f. $50 are already dis
posed OF according to the terms of the
act. The appropriation for the purpose
was only $1,000, which has been found
inadequate for the suitable presentation
OF the subject Accordingly a request
for 81. 900 more will be made Of the in
coming legislature, and the publication
Will Oe delayed, but it is hoped that the
volume will be out in February. Com
p&iiS VI liit lt8t ustI lCI
copy, which was the volume issued by
the Massachusetts Historical Society
long ago, has been made with a pho;O-
graphic copy OF each page. The photo
graph is more distinct than the original.
Secretary Olin will include in the volume
five cpecimen pages. one of these is tne
firss page, one is the last page, one is the
list OF the original comers in the May
flower, one is the page containing the
compact made in the cabin Of the May
flower (and Bradford's history is the
only Manuscript copy of it known. and
one page is a Photograph Of the walole
book as il appears slut Copies OF a
better edition VIII be made for distribu-
ton abroad. for the historical societies
which Will be supplied, and for the
members OF the legislature.