One of the best days in every moment is the one in which The Rowling Library (TRL!) e-zine arrives in my inbox. This month’s issue had, as always, one story that I flipped to first, either because the subject was of special interest or the author was someone I know is going to challenge and inform me about something I know little about. The August issue’s cover story is one with both those qualities.
The Writer Who Goes By ‘Ibid’ for reasons not known by me (why remain anonymous when you are the global subject matter expert for a given topic?) shares his or her comprehensive knowledge about Rowling manuscript history and canon. Here it is about the Pottermore digital material and its several presentations for sale, a discussion of the re-packaging of that Hogwarts encyclopedia in ebook form later this month.
It’s first rate, as everything the Writer Who Goes by ‘Ibid’ has written that I’ve read on TRL and elsewhere has been. The review of the Pottermore materials history, the sober but still very interesting list of the possible chapters to be included in each of the new ‘Wizarding Archive’ volumes, and the Parthian shot to Rowling, Inc., that it would really be more than okay to publish codex editions of this Hogwarts Saga backstory stuffing. (I was especially grateful for that last, as I was thinking it again and again while reading this excellent summary of what is known about the new collection and what can be reasonably assumed about its two tables of content.)
To read the August issue of The Rowling Library and its cover story, ‘What Will the Wizarding Archive Contain,’ just click here. To download the whole shebang as a pdf, touch here.
Enjoy! HogPro Hats are doffed once again to the writers and editors for TRL for another wonderfully professional presented magazine and diverse set of articles.
I don’t understand why you think it’s important to demand that ibid reveal his real name. Using a pseudonym is a fine tradition that many writers of note have done over the years, including JK Rowling herself.
Harry Potter is a subject that attracts a lot of attention (some of it intensely negative), And I can see precisely why a subject matter expert would not necessarily wish to make their true identity known.
Demanding that he tells you his personal details just comes across as creepy and weird.