Description:

When your brother Malcolm sends you a telegram inviting you to visit
him at Biblioll College in the ancient university town of
Christminster, you imagine that the mysterious `discovery' he alludes
to is nothing more than some esoteric bit of chemistry, and that
you'll have a pleasant day out in beautiful surroundings.

But when you get to Christminster, nothing is as you expect. Where has
Malcolm vanished to? What are the unpleasant Doctor Jarboe and the
positively repulsive Professor Bungay up to? And what do
long-forgotten alchemical treatises have to do with the modern day?