RUBAIYAT COMPARISONS TELL THE STORY

THE BOXALL RUBAIYAT COMPARISONS,
THE STORY UNFOLDS

In the last post we discussed the Tamam Shud case and demonstrated the way in which microcode was written into the Boxall copy of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. We also mentioned the use of different inks, papers and even writing instruments.

The fact is that the person who had written and concealed the code was an expert, not just at codes but an expert at micro writing. Some of the letters were in the .2 mm range, not quite invisible but easy to miss. That takes a lot of skill, more further down this post, for now, let's take a look at the comparisons between the Boxall copy of the Rubaiyat and a copy of the exact same, but plain, edition from The Australasian Publishing Co. Pty. Ltd. The plain edition contains does not contain a  handwritten inscription. We used an ELA (Error Level Analysis) tool to view and capture these images and both were in colour.

1. THE FEZ LADY IMAGE COMPARED:

The Verse 70 inscription as you can see is on the left and the Palin page containing just the image of the Fez Lady is on the right.

Immediately you will notice a distinct difference in colour, the Fez lady on the left, the verse 0 inscription page, shows distinct and obvious purple colouration. On the left whilst there is some colouration noticeable it is far less obvious. There are other harder to spot differences, we can leave them for now but please feel free to see what you can find!

What it tells us is that different inks were used in specific parts of the left image. It also indicates that there was very probably a particular kind of paper in use.

2. THE TITLE PAGE COMPARISON:

Again you can see the difference in colouration for the same reasons outlined above being different inks and different paper.

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS:

Apart from the ink, there are two other issues:

1. The paper

If we turn back the clock to the time the inscription was written and the time of publication, around 1944/1945. In order to write at the sizes we have recorded, .2mm in height, you would need to use a paper that wouldn't let the ink 'bleed', it wouldn't spread much further than the size of the marking made by the pen/writing instruments for the obvious reason that you would not be able to see what had been written, it would just be one blur instead of the letters and numbers we have already shown. 

The paper types available in those days were either 'onion skin' finish or a translucent stock including tracing papers. The Verse 70 page is not tracing paper so it was a kind of 'onion skin' paper that was used. This kind of paper is not specially coated but it is tough and can be shiny in appearance. An examination of the paper type shows up a shiny type finish. Onion skin papers were regularly used by agents because of their toughness and the fact that they didn't bleed ink. Examples would be the message pads used for carrier pigeons and other forms of clandestine communications.

Today's equivalent paper is known as 'bleed proof' paper, this paper when printed on at a high-quality setting on an inkjet printer, produces a very fine line and detail as, again, we showed in the last post. If the paper used for inkjet printing of these documents, including the code page, was gloss or matte finish, the ink would spread and the fine detail would be lost.

The effect is known as 'dotgain', when we talk about resolution we sometimes refer to it as DPI or 'Dots Per Inch' and dotgain says that in a bleed proof print then the width of a line might say be 10 dots but if you use the wrong paper that might turn out at 15 or 20 dots. Not much for a normal image but not at all suited for fine detailed micro writing.

That effect will be demonstrated in an upcoming post.

2. The Writing Instrument:

The question of what type of writing instrument was used to write the inscription and other elements on the Boxall version of the book, us really quite an interesting one. You could use a very fine dipping pen and some kind of 'ink'. You could also use a finely sharpened pencil and there is reason to think that a pencil was used for the inscription but not for the Fez Lady or the bunch of grapes on the title page. For the latter two, that was an 'ink' or fluid of some kind and that is what shows up in the ELA images. But, what was used or recommended to be used for that task?

Imagine if you were an agent in the field, having a really sharp,(crow quill) dipping pen would be a giveaway if searched, the pencil not so much but it would require regular sharpening and so there would be the lead and wood shavings to be considered and tidied away promptly. There are other instruments though.

You could use a sharpened matchstick but again you would need to destroy it immediately it had been used dependent on the circumstances.

What was needed was an everyday item that would write in ink or other fluid. A simple pin would fit the bill nicely. There is a range of different 'inks' that could be used but again they would need to either be or resemble an everyday fluid. If the inks were of the invisible kind, and that's what we might be seeing in the illustrations, then lemon juice for simple tasks, special chemicals were hidden in such things as detachable collars from a shirt, a fine example from WW1 was a special chemical washed into a pair of socks which when soaked in water produced a dark brown fluid. A process was then needed to 'develop' the concealed writing. How the latter would show up under Infrared lighting I don't know.  For the record, the American newspaperman with the socks and who was acting for the enemy was arrested in the UK and was about to be shot in the Tower of London but a deal with the US was struck and he was sent home and his case handled there.

Here's an example from WW2, they used Iodine vapour to develop the concealed message found on a German Submarine Captain when he surrendered at the end of WW2:

THE BOXALL BOOK

The Boxall book still exists and is believed to be in the possession of Professor Abbott. An image sent to me by the Professor some time ago appears to have been tampered with. That's a great pity, (even though the 'greying over' of the verse is a nuisance the underlying code can be recovered).

The comparison below clearly shows the 'greying over', the lower image is from the Abbott supplied version.

If the book had been left in its original condition intact and untouched with all of its concealed writing, it would, according to one source, be worth many thousands of dollars to a serious collector. More than enough to pay for an exhumation perhaps? It is a very rare example of clandestine communications.

When you add this information on the Boxall Rubaiyat to that which we already have on the Somerton Man code, the pieces of the puzzle start to fall into place.