Verification of details from the Notebooks

 

 

 

Verifying facts and experiences from Evan's life and the lives of other Cognomina members in the book has been one of the joys of working on this project over the past 10 years.  I have thought about giving up on trying to bring this work into the world many times since the translation was complete in 1999, but verification of fact after fact from the papers continues to excite and motivate me to complete the research and assemble the book for wider publication.   This research is presented as endnotes on pages 302-306

 

Some verified facts from the book

Poppy assassinated by the Venetian Republic

When Evan asks about the story behind a stained glass window in her converted church home in which a hooded assassin stalks a young man Poppy recalls her story of escaping from the glassworks island of Murano [ in the Venetian lagoon] and that the republic sent an assassin to kill her. 

The Venetian Republic diligently dispatched assassins to kill artisans who left the island colony, thereby enforcing an effective European monopoly on glass manufacturing and techniques for 5 centuries.  Pendergast, Mark Mirror, Mirror: A History of the Human Love Affair with Reflection New York:2003 Basic Books Perseus Book Group ISBN 978-0-465-05470-1

Poppy [as Louis Lucas de Nehon] revolutionizes large sheet glass production for the Palace of Versaille

In describing how she received the decorative cane in Chapter 9, Poppy describes being Louis Lucas de Nehon [Nehou], a pioneer glass artisan in France, who completed some work for the Versailles palace project.

Many of her recollections from Louis Lucas de Nehon, such as interactions with Colbert and LeBrun, experimental glass casting techniques and participation in the founding of the St. Gobain glassworks can be directly corroborated from several sources, most notably:  From Sun to Earth 1665-1999 A History of Saint-Gobain, Maurice Hamon 

Evan [as Vasili] survives the collapse of the Bularian Army in September 1918

Evan's recollection [as Vasili Blagavich Arda] of the collapse of the Bulgarian army along the Cherna river in the fall of 1918 is accurate to day.  The Marshall Cavendish encyclopedia of World War I

Samas [as Juan de Victoria] meets Poppy on Coronado's 1540 expedition to current day New Mexico and Arizona

Samas's recollection as Juan de Victoria in 1539 is also uncannily accurate.  Spanish colonial records detail a Juan de Victoria, Tovar and Alvarado as all being officers under Coronado per:  Fundadores de Nueva Galicia Tomo I

His recount of the battle of Hawikuh is confirmed by Mangum in In the Land of Frozen Fires

Clovis is forced to fight Ramsay defending the Arab port against British

Clovis's story of how he came to remain in Al-Mucha as part of the coffee wars [including Captain Henry Middleton's logs from the Trade's Increase] are verified by The Honorable Company, a history English East India Companyby John Keay 1991