The Archive of Lost Scholars
The Archive of Lost Scholars The dust in the Sub-Basement of St. Jude’s smelled of turn-of-the-century binding glue, old tea leaves, and failure. Julian brushed a thumb over the gold-embossed spine of The Complete Monograph on Early Celtic Syntax , Volume IV. There was no Volume V. Arthur Pendelton, the author, had walked into the Bodleian Library in the winter of 1894 to double-check a footnote, left his wool coat on the back of a mahogany chair, and vanished from the academic record entirely. That was why Julian was here. As the sole clerk assigned to the Archive of Lost Scholars, his job was not to catalog books, but to catalog the people who had been swallowed whole by their own research. He adjusted his wire-rimmed spectacles and pulled out a fresh index card. Pendelton, Arthur. Senior Fellow in Linguistics. Last seen: December 3, 1894. Dissertation: Incomplete. "He was close, you know," a dry voice echoed from the stacks behind him. Julian didn't jump. Dr. Eleanor...