For those not in the know, Wolfram & Hart is the name of a mystical law firm in the television series Angel. They possessed virtually every book ever written, which persons in the research department could access by picking up a seemingly blank volume and uttering the name of the book desired; the text of the book named would then magically appear on the pages. If the book in question was not written in a language you speak, you can request it be translated into English or whatnot.
Let’s say that you do the W&H Senior partners a service; not a huge service, but one they think worth rewarding. (Further stipulate that you’re not important enough to the coming apocalypse to bother corrupting.) They decide to give you one work day–eight hours–access to their library. You can’t take the book out of the building, nor can you use the photocopier to make copies. Nonetheless, you’ve got a comfortable place to sit and read, the music of your choice playing in the background, and Harmony Kendall bringing your beverage of choice while you read.
I don’t think it’s a magical translator; they employ humans to do that. The magic is only in the transmission of text from the “stacks,” as it were, to the blank booky you’re holding.
Am I restricted to mundane texts? Do I have to know the title of the text myself, or can I ask for assistance or look in a catalogue? Do I have to know the original title, or is the english translation sufficient?
I’d go for a working version of The Necronomicon, or something similar, looking to jazz up my innate magical powers. I do have innate magical powers, right?
1.) original copies of the gospels, canonical and otherwise, and certain letters of Paul. I’d compare with modern versions and make notes. I wouldn’t be able to prove that I knew the true texts, but it would certainly be nice to know which scholars are right.
1b.) Various many sources theories of Genesis never really interested me that much, but would be cool if i had time.
2.) Books that would give me a serious edge in terms of magical skill or material wealth (Oh, so THAT’S where they buried that collection of Incan gold, thank you journal-of-dead-guy) are tempting, but I can’t think of any likely suspects.
3.) Shakespeare’s lost works.
4.) There are major omissions from the greco-roman historical and literary records. Not my personal thing (at least not in 8 hours) but it’s an idea.
I’d go with 1, with a quick look at 2 if anyone had a good thought.
I look at it this way. If you had magic potential, W & R probably wouldn’t give you access to their mojo unless it was part of an evil plan of theirs that would doubtlessly end with your being turned into a zombie and beheaded by Charlie Gunn. Now, it’d be one thing if this process assured you of the chance to make the beast with two backs with Lilah Morgan, but that’s far from certain.
I was going to say the Voynich Manuscript. Can I get the Phaistos Disk? Not technically a book, but then, neither are most of the other things mentioned.
If I’ve got eight hours and I can write things down or take cell phone pictures, any lost play of Shakespeare- Love Labour’s Won and Cardenio, for instance. I’d start with LLW, and at least write the character list, plot summary, and scene breakdown.
Shakespeare’s play “Thomas More” which is lost. Of course we don’t know if it was ever written down. But if it was, was it as good as “A Man for All Seasons”?
