November 12, 1927
Professor Blackman:
Your request for a summer leave has been considered and accepted. However, we already have a fine research crew (although, alas, composed of members of the Medieval Metaphysics, the Geology, and the History departments, with only Professor Armitage from Archaeology) in Easter Island. We feel that it would be more appropriate for you to bone up on your Biblical Archaeology, as the Department would like to send you--now that the political situation in the erstwhile Ottoman Empire has somewhat stabilized--to Eastern Turkey; in fact, a point on the Georgian-Turkish border.
Certainly you realize the ramifications of this project. If you succeed, Miskatonic University could be the first to recover relics of Noah's Ark.
Of course we are being a little facetious. Obviously no educated man believes that the Ark--if ever existed one--came to rest on the summit of Ararat; however, the existence of the Biblical tale, taken in conjunction with recent discoveries (e.g. Catal Huyuk), lead us to believe that there almost certainly existed a proto-Semitic culture with a large city near the foot of Ararat, in the Lake Van region. Photographs of the Ararat foothills show what look like several promising sites. Excavation of one was actually undertaken by Miskatonic beginning in 1910, but lack of funding and the intervention of the Great War forced the cessation of work.
We at Miskatonic would appreciate your looking into the site and determining whether you feel it worthwhile to continue the dig. Should you agree, we will provide you and your assistants with the requisite visas from Ataturk's government, transportation, and a budget adequate to your needs. Choose carefully whom you wish to take. You are doubtless aware that the department is, at the moment, undergoing a shortage of qualified graduate students; therefore, feel free to avail yourself of whatever outside expertise you deem necessary, subject, of course, to the constraints of your budget. A pilot will be absolutely essential, as there are few roads to the eastern reaches of Turkey, and an experienced mountaineer is recommended if you intend to explore the higher reaches of Ararat. You may further wish to employ Turkish-speaking labor overseers if you determine that the dig should proceed.
Based on your Mexican performance, we feel an expedition of this nature, which necessarily entails some risk and hardship, but also a great deal of challenge is well-suited to one of such character as yourself.
Sincerely, Virgil Bleimann
Archaeology Department Head
Dec. 12, 1927
Dear Professor Blackman:
Your request has been approved. Up to $200 per assistant taken to Turkey (maximum of eight) for the summer's work, tickets for yourself and assistants on a liner from New York to London--you will travel first class, your assistants second--thence, aboard the Simplon Orient-Express from London to Istanbul. From there, I am sorry to report, your fortunes will take a turn for the worse. You will take a steamer from Istanbul to Trabzon on the Black Sea Coast. At Trabzon we shall have an aeroplane waiting for you, which you will take possession of. We are currently investigating the logistics of fueling such a contrivance for the flight to the Van/Ararat region; it may prove necessary for the party to return overland.
Estimated dates for the project are from the third week of May until the first week of September. If circumstances force a later return, the University will be understanding; indeed, speaking as a friend, my dear Missouri, I recommend that you find some time for relaxation after the summer and delay your return, perhaps dallying in Paris or the Greek Isles for a while.
Yours Truly,
Virgil Bleimann
15 January 1928
Dear Dr. Blackman:
I hope you too had a most pleasant Christmas. I must reiterate that $200 per assistant is the absolute most that the Department will tolerate, and that many think we have already been too generous in funding this expedition, which many regard as ill-advised. I must say, you seem rather paranoid when you suggest that I am "warning [you] to stay away from Miskatonic"; I merely suggested that a relaxing vacation would do your nerves--and perhaps those of your colleagues--some good. I trust that the scurrilous rumor regarding your alleged suggestions for "special tutoring" to Miss Farthington in your Introductory Archaeology class is just that.
Yours,
Prof. Bleimann
29 January 1928
Missouri,
How did you ever get tenure? Really, urinating on the rosebushes at the President's Wife's Tea Party is just too much. You are absolutely right; the Department wishes you out of its collective hair. Please, take all the time you like investigating these Turkish ruins. I understand China is lovely in the autumn as well.
Bleimann
20 Feb 28
Blackman:
Moral Turpitude is still grounds for dismissal, even from a tenured post. Watch yourself very closely between now and the time you board that liner. Your ticket is, by the by, now second class.
Bleimann