someone’s been leaving cryptograms in Weldon Library (University of Western Ontario)

What a cool thing! If you like books, libraries, codes and mysteries, you will like this: someone has been leaving coded notes with little objects attached (feathers, leaves, jewels) in books in the stacks of Weldon Library at the University of Western Ontario.

Here are UWO prof Mike Moffatt’s blog posts detailing the discovery of the notes:

Secret Cryptogram Note found in D.B. Weldon Library Stacks

Two More Coded Notes Found at Weldon Library

Notes 4 and 5 Discovered

Notes 6 Through 16 Discovered

What We Know and What We Don’t About the 16 Weldon Notes

I love stuff like this! I wonder if they will ever find out who is behind this and what the notes mean. But really, I think it’s just neat, no matter what the origin or purpose. Like Moffatt says,

I keep hearing things like “sorry to disappoint, the notes don’t mean anything, it’s an art thing”. That is certainly a strong possibility. I’m not sure why that should disappoint at all! I find the idea that these are a form of art really interesting. That still doesn’t solve the mystery, though. Who put them there? When were they put there? What was the artist thinking? How did they create the font? I have all kinds of questions, so if it is art, I’d be delighted if the artist stepped forward.