Bill Bly'sWe Descend, Volume One was published in 1997 by Eastgate Systems as a 9" x 6" folio made of heavy card stock. When opened, the folio reveals a pocket on each side. The pocket on the left hand side contains the floppy disk of the work. The pocket on the right hand side is where the back page of the 14-page booklet that gives directions for "Getting Started" is slipped. The look of the folio with its front and back cover and inside paper contents resembles a book environment and, so, provided a breadcrumb leading readers from the world of print from where they had come to the world of the digital where they were headed with electronic literature.
This section of Pathfinders contains nine images of Bly's folio of We Descend. The photos detail the material aspect of the work and show the information that readers glean from its presentation.
The first two photos show the front and back of the folio. The folio was designed by Eric A. Cohen, who, according to Mark Bernstein, the owner of Eastgate Systems, served for several years as the company's staff designer. The
front of the folio shows the title,
We Descend, in orange and geometric designs in white against a light mauve background. Arcing around one part of the circle of the design and just beneath the title are the words: "Archives Pertaining to Egderus Scriptor Volume One." On the rest of the circle are two lines with the words in all caps. Line one says, "RENDERED INTO HYPERTEXT FORM," and the second says, "AND WITH FORWARD AND AFTERWORD BY." The second line leads to the name Bill Bly printed at the bottom of the folio.
The
back of the folio repeats the title in orange and continues the design seen in the front of the folio. Below the title are the words printed in bold type, "An archive from the distant future, unearthed by a scholar of the even more distant future, when the world we know is less than the shadow of a myth." A longer section of text that serves as a teaser about the story follows in regular typeface. It reads:
Why must Egderus leave the Mountain House as secretary to the Good Doctor, interrogator and torturer? What intrigue surrounds one prisoner, the Historian, and what does he know that makes the Good Doctor so relentless in his attack? Why, ultimately, is this Historian the one victim that Egderus attempts to rescue?
Years later, as an old man at the Mountain House, Egderus uncovers only more mysteries. What did the Historian learn that drove him to his death? Does something live, still, in the rocks around him? And how shall Egderus pursue this disturbing legacy that could shake the foundations of their world?"
Below this section is information about the floppy disk's format. A circle is found by each "Windows" and "Macintosh." A white dot would have been placed next to the version the reader had purchased. Also located in this section are the words, "Requires 1 MB free RAM and a hard disk drive." The contact information for Eastgate Systems, including the company's toll free and MA phone numbers, fax number, email address, URL, and street address are also included. The ISBN sticker is situated next to the contact information showing the numbers, ISBN: 1-884511-35X; ISBN: 978-1884511356.
The
opened folio reveals a slot, or pocket, on the left hand side where the floppy disk is kept. The inside, left-hand side of the folio's cover advertises Shelley Jackson's
Patchwork Girl and provides the copyright information for
We Descend. On the right hand side is the 14-page booklet that gives the directions for "Getting Started with
We Descend" for both Windows and Mac. Also included in the booklet is a brief bio of Bill Bly and information about where to get answers to technical problems one may have with the work.
The booklet is printed on paper stock in black and white. The
booklet's front cover design matches that of the front of the folio.
Inside of the booklet on the left hand page is the "Software License Agreement," "Limited Warranty and Disclaimer,"copyright and trademark information, and contact information for Eastgate Systems. The right hand side of the booklet contains the
Table of Contents. There are four items listed: "Getting Started with
We Descend for Macintosh," "Getting Started with
We Descend for Windows," "About the Author," and "Questions?."
The
back cover departs from the design of the folio, containing instead the information needed for getting technical help. The word, "Questions?," is centered on the page, followed by "If you have any technical problems reading
We Descend please call us here at Eastgate so we can help. The full contact information found on the inside cover of the folio is repeated, here, on the back of the booklet.
The 3 1/2" floppy disk, containing Bly's hypertext novel, is a high density disk marked by HD in the black plastic casing. The
front of the disk has a white label covering both sides of the disk, 2 1/4" of the front and 1/2" of the back. The front part of the label shows the title, printed in two lines left-justified, and author's name directly below it. Underneath Bly's name is a red line with the words in all caps "SERIOUS HYPERTEXT" followed by "from." Beneath this line and words is "Eastgate Systems," followed by its street address and phone numbers. The Eastgate Systems logo is situated next to the contact information. All lettering found in the white section of the label matches the red burgundy color of the line and red in the logo.
The label on the
back side of the floppy disk reads, "Copyright
© 1997 by Bill Bly. Software copyright
© 1992-97 by Eastgate Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized distribution or sale of this material is expressively prohibited."
The
folio with the booklet removed reveals a layout similar to a book cover. Both sides of the folio's inside cover are used to announce other works published by Eastgate Systems. On the left hand side is information about Shelley Jackson's
Patchwork Girl; on the right hand side is information about Storyspace and important works published by Eastgate Systems created with the software, information set apart from the rest of the information in a box. Mentioned are Bly's
We Descend; Michael Joyce's
Twilight, A Symphony; David Kolb's
Socrates in the Labyrinth: Hypertext, Argument, Philosophy; Edward Falco's
A Dream with Demons; Diane Greco's
Cyborg: Engineering the Body Electric; and Jackson's
Patchwork Girl.
