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Dear David, Thank you for the clarification. I wanted to confirm that you weren't thinking of a three-dimensional quadrant system, which also could be conceived to have eight car…
08 Dec 2020, 04:46
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Dear David, I have a very vague impression that Severian is given it on the Ship Tzadkiel to help him find his way around, but I haven't had time yet to check and could well be mi…
07 Dec 2020, 23:15
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Folks, And on Monday 7 December 2020, David Stockhoff asked: To which Rick replied: I imagine this is a typo for "top". You're probably aware that maps with south at the top ar…
07 Dec 2020, 22:35
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Folks, I'm selling a copy of the rare and fabulous Publisher's Edition of _Empires of Foliage and Flower_, published by Cheap Street in 1987. (Yes, this is the same copy I offered…
07 Feb 2020, 01:54
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Fellow Urthicans, For anyone who may be interested, I'm offering my copy of the very rare and beautiful 1987 Cheap Street Publisher's Edition of _Empires of Foliage and Flower_, s…
10 Nov 2018, 01:02
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Dear Lee, Well, fair enough. It's also possible that Wolfe distinguished between them while writing New Sun, but later changed his mind and decided to conflate them in Long Sun a…
20 Sep 2014, 00:39
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Folks, Let's be clear before there's any more confusion: Wolfe writes, on page 43 of the book-club edition of _The Castle of the Otter_, on the first page of his essay, "Onomasti…
18 Sep 2014, 14:56
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Folks, And later, Lee Berman wrote (not as a direct reply): Here's an alternative hypothesis that may explain all of the observed facts, and may have the additional benefit of sh…
18 Sep 2012, 19:49
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Mr. Stockhoff, Yes. That's one. It questions me--in this case, my ability to comprehend discourse--and not my ideas of what constitutes a personal attack. If I'm moved to compl…
17 Oct 2011, 18:37
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Mr. Stockhoff, I have noticed more than one instance of personal phrasing. That's what makes it a personal attack. My comments stand, no matter how pointless you may think his p…
17 Oct 2011, 14:53
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Folks, Gerry Quinn is attacking ideas, not people. As far as I can recall, he has only ever attacked ideas, and never people. I won't name names--there should be no need--but I'…
17 Oct 2011, 14:22
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Dear Mr. Scriabin, Please think nothing of it. Thanks you for the photos. No doubt others have already replied, but I will anyway. This looks like Mr. Wolfe's signature--I have…
01 Jul 2011, 17:14
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Dear Mr. Holkar, You're very welcome. Best, Mark Millman…
30 Jun 2011, 22:43
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Dear Mr. Scriabin, If it's the 1984 Mark V. Ziesing edition--a folio, the dustjacket of which is illustrated with a painting of Candy running through a field of flowers and which …
29 Jun 2011, 22:46
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Dear Mr. Berman, In that case, it may interest you to know that, at roughly the same time that the term "ape" comprised large monkeys such as baboons, the term "reptile" comprised…
07 Jan 2011, 18:11
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Dear Mr. Wynn, I agree. I'm not aware of others, but I'm not an expert in the field. I'd imagine that Wolfe--even if he, as I'd be inclined to believe, personally prefers the ex…
30 Nov 2010, 22:01
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Dear Mr. Wynn, On Tuesday 30 November 2010, you replied: I subscribe to the idea that the world's refounding by Odin's sons is a late addition to the mythology, influenced by Chr…
30 Nov 2010, 21:15
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Dear Mr. Berman and Mr. Quinn, On Tuesday 30 November 2010 at 9:12 AM, Gerry Quinn replied to Lee Berman: LB> James wonders if there is any relationship LB> of this secret vine o…
30 Nov 2010, 20:38
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Dear Jeff, And I indicated that others had expressed my reasoning, making it superfluous for me to do so; and that my opinion is that their statements are better than my own is li…
18 Aug 2010, 23:22
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Dear Mr. (my apologies if this should be Dr.) Wilson, The other commenters have answered your questions better than I could do. Also, the list owner has asked for less volume, an…
17 Aug 2010, 19:52
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Folks, I had forty-two distinct threads from the Urth List comprising one hundred ninety-three notes when I looked at my e-mail account today. I last looked on Friday around 5:00 …
16 Aug 2010, 20:59
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Dear Mr. Wynn, Thank you very much for this information. I agree; it's all too common for modern editors to summarize those chapters that deal with the fantastic. One of the edi…
23 Nov 2009, 17:55
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Dear John, I cannot, you should note, verify the sixth book's existence from my own experience, and had myself half-believed it to be an invention of Borges'. But Mr. Wynn's stat…
23 Nov 2009, 16:15
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Dear Mr. Wynn, There's also the fact that both Ultan and Borges were national librarians of their respective countries. I have two different editions of the Simplicissimus, both …
23 Nov 2009, 15:21
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Dear Mr. Wynn, Thank you for your very kind comment. Yes, exactly. This is a case in which both of the romantic partners experience spiritual growth through the relationship--Di…
27 Mar 2009, 23:28
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Dear Enamel, I think most readers would agree that often--not invariably, but much more often than not--romantic love is the starting point from which Wolfe's protagonists advance…
27 Mar 2009, 19:56
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Dear Son of Witz, Yes, it's Severian who is (physically) immortal; thank you for the support. The fact that until he brings the New Sun that immortality is by the agency of body-…
12 Dec 2008, 17:35
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Folks, I've managed to acquire a duplicate copy of Robert Borski's _Solar Labyrinth_. If anybody on the list would like it, I'm asking $20 including insured Priority Mail shippin…
12 Dec 2008, 17:26
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Folks, I don't know where this idea got its start, but I don't believe that there's any reason at all to believe that aquastors are immortal. Severian certainly gets his body repl…
12 Dec 2008, 17:15
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Dear Mr. Watkins and Son of Witz, Actually, the _Lexicon Urthus_ definition of pantocrator is taken almost verbatim from Wolfe's own glossary entry for it in _The Castle of the Ot…
04 Dec 2008, 18:25
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Dear Mr. Tallman, This hypothesis strikes me as unnecessarily complicated, but that's not the only reason to doubt it. I'm afraid that both of these points are factually incorrec…
01 Dec 2008, 19:44
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Dear Bennewitz, It's because she's a small child and has gotten underfoot, as small children do. Presumably it depends on whether the memories are from Severian and Thecla at the…
09 Oct 2008, 16:16
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Dear brunians, Dunno. Why is it important for you to know? Alternatively: Don't you ever feel that way? Also, and most pickily: Please note that I haven't invited you to addr…
13 Aug 2008, 19:25
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Dear Mr. Tallman, I actually don't mean to pick on you personally; my frustration with the issue just happened to overflow while I was reading your post. I apologize if I upset y…
13 Aug 2008, 18:37
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Please, everybody, let's get this right, 'cause it's an easy one and it's really frustrating: masculine: inhumu feminine: inhuma plural: inhumi How can we trust a close readin…
13 Aug 2008, 17:52
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Dear Mr. Wells, Indeed it could, depending on what interpretation you prefer. To go back to Mr. Tallman's statement, I don't really think that there's any need to make an effort …
30 Jun 2008, 20:54
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Dear b sharp: Severian is the Epitome of Urth, and possibly of humanity, if Urth be taken to be the epitome of the human worlds of the galaxy. The exultants are of Urth and have …
30 Jun 2008, 16:05
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Folks, The SFWA probably are not the right contact for this. Not long ago they tried to act, as they thought, on behalf of some of their members with regard to some electronic ri…
05 Feb 2008, 20:58
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Dear Mr. Wilson: Not so; a ship volant would show no waterline, while a ship natant would. Best, Mark Millman…
29 Nov 2007, 05:09
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Dear Mr. Wilson: No; it's unlikely, for example, that the vehicle in question is a flyer, as Severian distinguishes those quite clearly from ships. I suspect that "ship volant" i…
29 Nov 2007, 01:14
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Dear Mr. Wilson: Thanks for playing devil's advocate. It still seems pretty unlikely, either as a practical matter within the story or thematically from a critical viewpoint. Be…
27 Oct 2006, 16:30
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Dear Mr. Rabin, Your suggestions are eminently plausible. I wish I could remember whether Severian tells us what happens to apprentices who aren't elevated to journeyman; that mi…
26 Oct 2006, 16:31
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Dear bsharp: I believe that the memory of Severian that you quote (copied below) exemplifies his habit of slipping into Thecla's personali- ty without warning. This happens throu…
18 Aug 2006, 02:51
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Kate, You might also want to get a copy of _Mrs. Byrne's Dictionary of Unusual, Obscure, and Preposterous Words_, by Josefa Heifetz Byrne. Wolfe has referred to it in, I believe, …
12 Jun 2006, 06:35
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Dear b sharp, Please forgive my misunderstanding your point. I appreciate this clarification, and your patience with my misapprehen- sion. Mark Millman…
23 May 2006, 04:39
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Dear b sharp: Surely not. Long Sun wasn't published until a decade after New Sun, as originally planned (i.e., without _Urth_), was complete. It may be the case that the use of …
22 May 2006, 19:25
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Dear list members, Mr. Rabin is correct. The word in _Starwater Strains_ (on page 217, paragraph 5, line 1) is misprinted as "stories". The Cheap Street chapbook (it's the press…
24 Aug 2005, 23:12
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Dear Chris and James, On Mon, 27 Jun 2005, Chris wrote, quoting James Wynn: The term "face of command" comes from Typhon himself. In explaining why he chose to have his head tra…
27 Jun 2005, 21:54
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Dear Mr. Wynn, In the earlier of your two (so far) messages today, you refer twice to "the Mainframe", presumably mean- ing the computer construct on the Whorl that takes the plac…
26 Jun 2005, 13:32
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Dear Mr. Doggett, Actually, what Mr. Lackey said, is that Quetzal knew -Tussah- and Horn. The statement was: The "latter two" are Tussah and Horn. The char- acters that Mr. Lac…
23 Jun 2005, 11:26
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