The Museum of Mistakes
"Everyone has heard of the Museum of Mistakes. Hardly anyone has been inside it."[1]
The Museum of Mistakes is a dusty old institution on Ladybones Road[2] run by the Ministry of Public Decency,[3] and a d__nable pain to actually get into. It holds all sorts of ancient things, reminders of old indiscretions and errors.
Halls of Shame
The Museum has seventy-seven doors, but not all of them are real; some are just painted onto the wall, while others hold traps designed to give any intruder a really miserable day.[4] Perhaps it’d be best to enter legitimately… but that might be an even more difficult task, given the bureaucratic labyrinth[5] that is the nine-stage application process.[6][7]
The following are known to be on display in the Museum:
- A corroded brass microscope smelling faintly of ammonia[8]
- Old musket-balls[9]
- Jade carvings[10]
- A half-eaten fig[9][11]
- A three thousand year old bit of black sailcloth,[9] labelled 'Achaean, c 1200BC'[11]
- First City Coins[9]
- Diamonds[9]
- A stuffed two-headed bat[11]
- Two locks of hair; one amber, one dark.[11]
Grim Reminders
The Dadd Wing contains the museum's collection of human remains[12][13] and requires a separate ticket to enter.[14] It houses glass cases, sarcophagi,[15] the skin of of human faces,[16] part of a skull,[17] and its oldest exhibit,[18] a collection of ushabti and canopic jars donated by one Troubled Painter.[19]
This mysterious painter lives in the Royal Bethlehem Hotel, and his name is implied to start with an R;[20] he may be Richard Dadd, the namesake of the exhibit. In real life, Dadd was a troubled but prolific illustrator who produced most of his best-known work while in psychiatric hospitals (one of which was Bethlem Royal Hospital).[21]
References
- ↑ The Museum of Mistakes, Fallen London
- ↑ The Affair of the Impatient Apprentice, Fallen London ’The entrance lies behind a gate of amber on Ladybones Road.’
- ↑ Prepare your Theft from the Museum of Mistakes!, Fallen London
- ↑ Reconnoitre, Fallen London
- ↑ The Affair of the Impatient Apprentice, Fallen London ’The Ministry uses every weapon in its formidable battery of paperwork to dissuade visitors to the Museum.’
- ↑ The Affair of the Impatient Apprentice, Fallen London ’There is a nine-stage application process. You're probably going to need more ink.’
- ↑ Use your contacts to prepare the ground, Fallen London
- ↑ Sidebar Snippets, Fallen London ’Snow in the Neath?’
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 Steal the coins!, Fallen London
- ↑ Attend with pleasure, Fallen London
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 Find a way in, Fallen London
- ↑ Visit the Museum of Mistakes, Fallen London
- ↑ The Affair of the Impatient Apprentice, Fallen London ’The Dadd Wing houses the Museum's collection of human remains.’
- ↑ The Affair of the Impatient Apprentice, Fallen London ’ADMITTANCE to the DADD WING ONLY, it says, in tiny print. And on the back: Not valid for other wings. Entry at bearer's own risk.’
- ↑ The Affair of the Impatient Apprentice, Fallen London ’ Its gallery is crammed – on both ground floor and mezzanine – with sarcophagi, dusty glass cases, and tables of jumbled exhibits.’
- ↑ Ask around 6, Fallen London
- ↑ The Affair of the Impatient Apprentice, Fallen London ’It is a round curve of thin bone. You examine the label: Calvarium. Canterbury, 1170.’
- ↑ The Affair of the Impatient Apprentice, Fallen London ’"Its oldest exhibit is a collection of statuettes and jars."’
- ↑ The Affair of the Impatient Apprentice, Fallen London ’Their plaque is less gnomic than most. Ushabtiu & canopic jars. Nile valley. It names the donor as a certain Troubled Painter.’
- ↑ The Affair of the Impatient Apprentice, Fallen London ’Eventually, you find a copy of the Museum's correspondence with the Troubled Painter, misfiled under 'R'. You note his address: a suite at the Royal Bethlehem Hotel.’
- ↑ Richard Dadd, Wikipedia
