536 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 19 39 



FOR THE GUIDANCE OF "FUTURIANS" 



The second great problem, that of how to leave word of the where- 

 abouts of the Time Capsule, was met by preparing a Book of Record 

 of the Time Capsule, printed on permanent paper with special inks. 

 Copies have now been distributed to libraries, museums, monas- 

 teries, convents, lamaseries, temples, and other safe repositories 

 throughout the world. 



The Book of Record was prepared after detailed consultation with 

 libraries, museum authorities, printers, and bookbinders. Sugges- 

 tions for binding and general treatment were obtained from the 

 office of the National Archives, the New York Public Library, the 

 American Library Association and other sources. The United States 

 Bureau of Standards furnished specifications for the permanent 

 paper and inks. A special run of 100-pound rag book paper was 

 manufactured for the book. The pages of each copy were sewn 

 together by hand with linen thread. A portion of the edition was 

 bound in royal blue buckram stamped with genuine gold. The 

 remainder was bound in handmade flexible paper, stamped with 

 aluminum. 



In order that the appearance of the Book of Record might match 

 its permanence, Frederic W. Goudy, one of the foremost type de- 

 signers, typographers, and printers of our time, consented to design 

 the book and set a portion of the type. Exactly 3,650 copies were 

 printed, of which 2,000 (including one buried in the Time Capsule) 

 were bound in flexible paper, and 1,650 in buckram. 



The Book of Record contains a message to posterity asking that it 

 be preserved and translated into new languages as they appear; a 

 description of the Capsule's contents, and the exact latitude and longi- 

 tude of the deposit as determined by the United States Coast and 

 Geodetic Survey to the third decimal point in seconds. The geodetic 

 coordinates are tied into the Survey's national network, on which 

 astronomical as well as geodetic data are given. In addition, instruc- 

 tions are included for making and using instruments to locate the 

 Time Capsule by the methods of electromagnetic prospecting. 



That our tongue may be preserved, the book contains an ingenious 

 Key to the English Language devised by Dr. John P. Harrington, 

 of the Smithsonian Institution. By means of simple diagrams the 

 peculiarities of English grammar are explained ; a mouth map shows 

 how each of the 33 sounds of English are pronounced. A 1,000- word 

 vocabulary of High Frequency English spelled in the ordinary way 

 and neophonetically, is provided. In itself the key is believed to con- 

 tain all the elements archeologists of the future will need to translate 

 and pronounce 1938 English, but, to make doubly certain, the Time 



