From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

In reference to the Magna Charta, Evelyn Leeper writes:

One might claim, I suppose, that it is often cited in the same way
as the Bible--by people who take pieces out of context and are
unfamiliar with the entirety.

In my father's Orange family, this was taken in an almost-humorous
way by the Book of Kells. "Male prostitution? Oh yeah, that's in
the Book of Kells." "You need a recipe for pie crust? It's probably
in the Book of Kells."

Many years later, I went to Dublin for the Worldcon and actually saw
the Book of Kells and it was not as comprehensive as I had been lead
to believe.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."
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From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

On 6/8/25 7:47 AM, Evelyn C. Leeper wrote:

But Jones's main point seems to be that our current perspective of
Magna Carta, and our idolization of it, is based on very shaky
ground.-a Almost all of Magna Carta dealt with issues that have no
relevance today (whether peasants can let their pigs forage in the
forests, for example).-a And Magna Carta itself was almost
immediately ignored by King John, with the Pope's approval (who
declared it null and void).-a It was followed almost immediately by
the civil war it was intended to prevent.-a Various clauses from it
did appear in future charters, but it effectively disappeared
from public discourse for four hundred years.-a (Thomas More cites
it in A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS, but whether he did in actuality is
not clear, and in any case, he was a lawyer.)-a It started to
re-appear in the sixteenth century, and figured heavily in the
American Revolution.

One might claim, I suppose, that it is often cited in the same way
as the Bible--by people who take pieces out of context and are
unfamiliar with the entirety.

There was a Robin Hood movie I saw where the Magna Carta is supposed to contain guarantees of rights to all the people, far beyond anything it actually said, and King John immediately tore it up (which also isn't historical).

When discussing it afterward, I suggested there was a first draft which
he found unacceptable (and somehow escaped the notice of history), and
he later signed a more limited one.
--
Gary McGath http://www.mcgath.com
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From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

On 6/8/2025 5:47 AM, Evelyn C. Leeper wrote:

THE SEVENTH VICTIM (1943): The posters, and the DVD case and menu
say "The 7th Victim", but the actual film says "The Seventh
Victim".

One thing that never made any sense to me was why Esther (who
owned a cosmetics company) was so upset that her employee Frances
was talking about the company's logo.-a It was the symbol of the
Palladists, but if it was so secret, why did Esther put it on all
their products?

Was the logo known outside the group to be the symbol of the Palladists
or just the logo of some cosmetics company? If the latter, and Frances
was talking about the former, that could be a problem.
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From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom

Scott Dorsey wrote:

In reference to the Magna Charta, Evelyn Leeper writes:

One might claim, I suppose, that it is often cited in the
same way as the Bible--by people who take pieces out of
context and are unfamiliar with the entirety.

In my father's Orange family, this was taken in an
almost-humorous way by the Book of Kells. "Male
prostitution? Oh yeah, that's in the Book of Kells." "You
need a recipe for pie crust? It's probably in the Book of
Kells."

Many years later, I went to Dublin for the Worldcon and
actually saw the Book of Kells and it was not as comprehensive
as I had been lead to believe.

That's because the folios that had the pie crust recipe were
among the ones that were lost in medieval times...

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