Book and Snake
Encyclopedia
Secret society
A secret society is a club or organization whose activities and inner functioning are concealed from non-members. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence agencies or guerrilla insurgencies, which hide their...
at Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
. Book and Snake was founded at the Sheffield Scientific School
Sheffield Scientific School
Sheffield Scientific School was founded in 1847 as a school of Yale College in New Haven, Connecticut for instruction in science and engineering. Originally named the Yale Scientific School, it was renamed in 1861 in honor of Joseph E. Sheffield, the railroad executive. The school was...
in 1863 as a three-year society bearing the Greek letters Sigma Delta Chi http://mssa.library.yale.edu/madid/showzoom.php?srchVal=sigma&id=txt&pg=1&imgNum=5566. As other "Sheff" societies, it was once residential and maintained a separate residential "cloister" at 1 Hillhouse Ave, which was built in 1888 and deeded to Yale after the institution of the residential college system. The building is today the university provost's office. A plaque honoring the society can be found on the first floor of the building.
Like other landed Yale societies, Book and Snake owns its own meeting hall, or "tomb." As is traditional with the meeting places of Yale societies, the building is windowless and available only to the current members and alumni; parties have been held that include friends of members, however.
Architects of the Book & Snake Buildings
- Louis R. Metcalfe. (1901, Greek IonicIonic orderThe Ionic order forms one of the three orders or organizational systems of classical architecture, the other two canonic orders being the Doric and the Corinthian...
. The front door is modeled after the Erechtheion Temple on the AcropolisAcropolisAcropolis means "high city" in Greek, literally city on the extremity and is usually translated into English as Citadel . For purposes of defense, early people naturally chose elevated ground to build a new settlement, frequently a hill with precipitous sides...
in Athens. Passersby will notice wrought-iron snakes, or "caduceusCaduceusThe caduceus is the staff carried by Hermes in Greek mythology. The same staff was also borne by heralds in general, for example by Iris, the messenger of Hera. It is a short staff entwined by two serpents, sometimes surmounted by wings...
es" adorning the iron fence surrounding the property. The white marble temple, startling in its Classical GreekAncient GreeceAncient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
verisimilitude, is deliberately situated with its back to the Yale campus; instead its orientation facing directly across the street to the massive Egyptian-revival gates of the Grove Street CemeteryGrove Street Cemetery, New HavenGrove Street Cemetery or Grove Street Burial Ground in New Haven, Connecticut is located adjacent to the Yale University campus. It was organized in 1796 as the New Haven Burying Ground and incorporated in October 1797 to replace the crowded burial ground on the New Haven Green...
, makes for an impressive display of ancient, mortuary-themed solemnity. Citation at http://www.dartmo.com/halls/hallscontent4.html.) Their emblem is a book surrounded by the ouroborosOuroborosThe Ouroboros is an ancient symbol depicting a serpent or dragon eating its own tail. The name originates from within Greek language; οὐρά meaning "tail" and βόρος meaning "eating", thus "he who eats the tail"....
.
- J. Edwards Ficken. (1888, residential hall known as "Cloister". Citation and picture at http://www.dartmo.com/halls/hallscontent4.html and at http://www.ctrl.org/boodleboys/book%26snake/index.html.)
Architectural historian Scott Meacham cites both of Book & Snake's buildings in his study of Yale and Dartmouth society and fraternity architecture. http://www.dartmo.com/halls/hallscontent4.html Also, references in architectural historian Patrick L. Pinnell's 1999 book "Yale University" 1999 Princeton Architectural Press ISBN 1568981678 http://books.google.com/books?id=alnup81pmkAC&pg=PA123&lpg=PA123&dq=patrick+pinnell+yale+anthony&source=web&ots=Mzn6w25dre&sig=KRPoISsYFKMPZl6SIOhSU_aDMtE.) Also pictured inhttp://www.facilities.yale.edu/Campus/Campus.asp