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Grail Diary

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"Every clue he followed, every discovery he made; the complete record of his forty year search for the Holy Grail."
―Indiana Jones, in 1938, on his father's Grail Diary.[src]

The Grail Diary was a possession of Doctor Henry Walton Jones, Senior In it, he recorded all of his findings on the topic of the Holy Grail, the study of which he had made his life's work.

Due to a curious twist of events, it also acquired Adolf Hitler's signature.[3]

History[]

"This is his whole life. Why would he send this to me?"
―Indiana Jones[src]

Doctor Henry Walton Jones, Senior started noting down his thoughts about the Holy Grail after what he took to be a vision that he beheld in 1898. He did many travels between United States of America and Europe, contacted many scholars and sought several historical documents during his studies, always carrying it with him.[1] The diary had over 282 pages interspersed with miscellaneous sheets of notes, sculpture rubbings and train tickets that Dr. Jones Sr. used as bookmarks.[4] As his son Indiana grew and his professional obligations accumulated, he paused his research around 1906 for six years.[1]

Henry adding to the diary in .

Henry adding to the diary in 1912.

At around 1938 he had almost determined the secret location of the Grail from his years of study, and had drawn a map in the diary based on his findings. The information it contained was of such great importance that possessing it was dangerous for one's life; this was due to Adolf Hitler's desire for occult and supernatural objects like the Holy Grail, and subsequently a desire of the Nazi army that he controlled.[2]

After being hired by Walter Donovan, Jones added to his diary a rubbing of Donovan's Grail tablet. Upon realizing that his expedition colleague Elsa Schneider was a Nazi, Dr. Jones Sr. sent the diary to his son in Barnett College by mail, to keep it out of Nazi hands.[2]

However, Indy brought the Grail Diary with him to Venice, where, after finding the second Grail marker, he determined where the Grail could be found - the Canyon of the Crescent Moon, outside Iskenderun. Indy removed the map from the diary, gave it to Marcus Brody, and sent him to rendezvous with Sallah in Iskenderun. When Indy went to rescue his father from the Nazis, he was captured, and the diary was taken by Donovan and Vogel. Since the map was missing, the Nazis sent the diary to Berlin to show progress on their search.[2]

Hitler signs for Indiana Jones.

Hitler signs for Indiana Jones.

Henry knew that the grail diary was still needed to overcome the defenses of the Grail Temple, and so went with his son to Berlin to retrieve it. Indy disguised himself and took it from Schneider. However on his leaving and while holding the Diary, he stumbled into Hitler himself who was signing autographs at a rally. Hitler took the Diary in his hands and skimmed through its pages. Assuming the posture of a German officer, Indy stood at attention. Hitler signed the diary and handed it back, not recognizing that it was the item sought by his men. After leaving Berlin, father and son studied the diary on their way to Hatay.[2]

Indy's knowledge of his father's research in the diary helped him slip past the traps in the Grail Temple and recover the Grail to save his wounded father.[2]

In 1939, the Grail Diary was kept in Henry Jones Jr.' office at Barnett College.[5]

Behind the scenes[]

Ernst Vogel: "What is in this book? That miserable little diary of yours. We have the map. The book is useless. And yet you come all the way back to Berlin to get it. Why? What are you hiding? What does the diary tell you that it doesn’t tell us?"
Henry Jones: "It tells me that goose-stepping morons like yourself should try reading books instead of burning them."
―Vogel and Henry Jones, Sr.[src]

The Grail Diary is actually a detailed movie prop created especially for the film. It contained several sketches, illustrations and notes, as well as some 'inserts' kept by Henry (like a dollar bill, dated 1899, the year his son was born). The text on the diary is mainly unreadable on-screen, however detailed scans and photos of some pages have been published in visual guides and reference books, including From Star Wars to Indiana Jones: The Best of the Lucasfilm Archives.

A minimalistic replica of the diary was included as part of the package of the Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure video game[6] which served as copy protection.[1] A more faithful version of the movie prop was released as part of the Limited Edition Collector's Set of Indiana Jones: The Complete Adventures on Blu-ray which also included select pages from The Lost Journal of Indiana Jones.[7]

Some of the text and artwork used to fill the pages of the prop diary were taken from real life books, including The Grail: Quest for the Eternal by John Matthews (1981, ISBN 0824500350) and The Flowering of the Middel Ages by Joan Evans (1966, ISBN 0500280436).[8]Other books used by prop master Keir Lusby to create the Grail Diary include: Palimpsests: The Backs of Monumental Brasses by John Page, Books of Hours and Their Owners by John Harthan, A History Of Architecture On The Comparative Method by Sir Banister Fletcher and The Reliquary & Illustrated Archaeologist by J. Romilly Allen. [9]

The Grail diary prop currently resides in the Hollywood Museum (housed in the Max Factor building) in Los Angeles, California.

Despite Last Crusade being set in 1938, a loose paper in the book contains dates in the future. This can be seen in the library in Venice when Indiana sees the stained glass window. Upon opening the page with his fathers sketch of the window, the piece of paper on the right side clearly reads "by 1943 the marriage rate had dropped back to 11.8 per 1,000" and "and the decline from 1942 to 1943 also reflected war time conditions".

Appearances[]

Non-canonical appearances[]

Sources[]

Notes and references[]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Grail Diary
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
  3. ↑ Indiana Jones: The Ultimate Guide, "Dear Diary", Pg. 91
  4. ↑ Indiana Jones: The Ultimate Guide
  5. ↑ Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
  6. ↑ Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure
  7. ↑ Indiana Jones: The Complete Adventures
  8. ↑ Grail Diary Tutorial (archive)
  9. ↑ https://www.therpf.com/forums/threads/grail-diary.352044/#post-5584389 RFP Craft your Fandom - Grail Diary]

External links[]

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