THE SCRIPTS OF CLEOPHAS by Geraldine Cummins 1928 / 296 pages. *****

With the unearthing of ancient writings found in caves near the dead sea, man’s knowledge of early Christian life has been enhanced. Now the publication of a new edition of "The Scripts of Cleophas", whilst originating in a manner far removed from that of the dead sea scrolls, bears equal authenticity and sheds further light on the people and places of early Christian times. The scripts contain material which both supplements and explains what we know of the new testament, and supplies information which the bible furnishes either incompletely, or not at all. They supplement the acts of the apostles, and the Epistles of St. Paul, in that they furnish an account of the early Church and the Apostles, immediately following the death of Christ. Normally, Miss Cummins is not a rapid writer, and has to work rather laboriously, and with many connections, to produce 600 or 700 words in a couple of days. When producing these Scripts, Miss Cummins placed her left hand over her eyes, the elbow resting on the table; the right hand is thus free to hold the pencil over a wad of single foolscap sheets. In a few minutes she appears to lapse into a condition of semi-trance, and her pencil travels over the paper rapidly, producing legible and perfectly intelligible script. Someone at her side removes each page as it is covered, exposing a clear sheet of paper. Generally this automatic writing is without pause or correction. No t’s are crossed, no I’s dotted, as the pencil never leaves the surface of the paper. The speed attained as contrasted with Miss Cummins normal rate of writing is very remarkable. On one occasion 2,230 words were written without a pause in one hour and thirty eight minutes. Later in the presence of Dr. Percy Dearmer, and the Honorable Edward Russell, and two other witnesses, 1,750 words were written in one hour and five minutes. On another occasion, over 2,600 words of close narrative that required no correction have been written at a sitting. The speed of the writing and the length of the sittings vary with the physical and mental conditions. The usual time for uninterrupted writing is a little over one and a half hours.