The Middle Notebookes began in French, as three carnets, written in
keeping with three stages of an illness: an onset and remission, a
recurrence and further recurrence, a death and the after of that death.
But the narrative only became evident subsequently; the malady
identified by these texts was foremost a literary one, fastened to a
body whose concealment had become, not only untenable, but perhaps, in a
sense, murderous. It is possible, then, that more than anything, these
Notebookes attest both to the commitment, and the eventual, though
unlikely, prevention of, a murder.