Who do you think Lemony made his solemn promise to?

[Optimism is my Phil-osophy]

Could you (or Dante ) quote the chapters where these phrases are specifically said? I would very much like to reread these specific passages. But my theory (which seems to be the most accurate to date) is that Daniel Handler Lemony Snicket had access to the things written by the three Baudelaires, just as you said he said. At the same time, Lemony claims to be unsure about the Baudelaires' survival after they left the island. Furthermore, Lemony claims he knows that Klaus has been unable to sleep for years because of what happened to Uncle Monty. The only way that all of these statements are true is as follows: The Baudelaires left written information on the island and Lemony Snicket was on this island after the Baudelaires left the island. In fact, in TE we found that the castaways already had the habit of leaving the record of their history in a book called A Series of Unfortunate Events. This is an obvious hint to me that Lemony took the information that was in this book. More than that. In TE we have the answer to the question: "But how is it possible that Lemony came to the same island as the Baudelaires?" And the answer is, "Everything ends on this island sooner or later." To whom did Lemony make the solemn promise? I think the answer is also obvious. Who are the books dedicated to? "For Beatrice". Soon the promise was made to Beatrice. That is the correct answer to the wrong question. The correct question would be, "Why did Lemony make a promise to Beatrice that she would reveal the story of her children to the general public?" This is an interesting question and this is where the theory gains more resemblance to a theory. In chapter 3 of LSTUA Lemony states that he is the biographer of the Baudelaires. Not just a biographer of the Baudelaire orphans. In addition, Lemony was already a writer when Beatrice and Bertrand were alive (if I'm not mistaken this is registered in THH). In addition, as shown in LSTUA a draft of what would become the introduction of TBB ended up in the record library. In that draft there is evidence that Lemony intended to write about his story with Beatrice and VFD. This shows that Lemony had made a solemn promise to Beatrice that he would record her family history and publish it for the general public. After her death he kept his promise to her children.

[B.]

To himself bc he loved Beatrice and wanted to continue her legacy by documenting the journey of her kids

big Severus snape vibes

[Marlowe]

Oct 4, 2020 22:12:59 GMT -5 Optimism is my Phil-osophy said:

Could you (or Dante ) quote the chapters where these phrases are specifically said? I would very much like to reread these specific passages. 

Good luck with that; lsandthebooks has a habit of posing bizarre questions, then refusing to follow up on or elaborate upon them.

[Dante]

There is little need to provide a citation for Lemony's solemn vow, promise, and duty, because he mentions it on the back cover of pretty much every book, in the "Dear Reader" section; though I'm not certain I recognise any reference to The End which has Lemony reading Klaus's commonplace book. On the off chance that lsandthebooks returns to this thread, would you mind looking that line up, please? I've attempted to find it myself, without success.

For my own part, much though Jean Lucio's interpretation of the dedications is convincing, the following too is quite obviously correct:

Oct 5, 2020 0:47:31 GMT -5 B. said:

To himself bc he loved Beatrice and wanted to continue her legacy by documenting the journey of her kids

big Severus snape vibes

And in actual fact the two are really just different ways of saying the same thing. He made the promise to himself, he made the promise to a Beatrice who is no longer alive - it's the same promise.

[Optimism is my Phil-osophy]

Oh! Thank you! I think this is canonical approval that Lemony Snicket did not invent the thoughts of the characters as some accuse him, and the canonical proof that Lemony Snicket did indeed have access to what the children wrote (At least one of them). It's not exactly the same thing as saying that they wrote it all in the island's book, but it's the same idea. (And that doesn't make it impossible for them to actually write something in the island book. In fact, it's likely that they wrote something there). However, essentially my theory remains intact. Klaus must have left his commonplace book on the island, since Lemony's information ends with their departure from the island. (I believe chapter 14 is an epilogue written after Lemony met Beatrice Jr.) If Klaus had written something after leaving the island in that notebook, Lemony would have had access to this and would have known without a doubt that he had survived. But it's not the case. (Unless the final pages are conveniently missing).

[Dante]

The above is not a definite statement that Lemony possesses and has read Klaus's commonplace book; it is a statement that Lemony knows what is in it, the same as he knows everything else the Baudelaires have done. Per Jean Lucio's opinion that Lemony's information on the Baudelaires' lives is derived from the island book, for instance, it would be reasonable to say that their autobiographical narrative in that book included the details of what Klaus noted down in his commonplace book, without Klaus having to have left that book behind (he still needed a commonplace book, after all). It's really no different to Lemony knowing what Quigley showed the Baudelaires from his own commonplace book; that isn't a statement that Lemony had access to Quigley's book, or to Duncan and Isadora's or anyone's, for that matter.

[Optimism is my Phil-osophy]

I am not sure about English grammar. But if Lemony's intention was to write about Klaus's notebook as if Lemony was not near the notebook itself while Lemony was writing, Lemony should not have written "Klaus had been writing down the details of the Baudelaires' situation in THAT dark blue notebook" ? When choosing "this" notebook, does he not give the idea that the notebook is close to him while he writes, even that he holds it in his hand? I am really asking and not arguing. I still prefer my theory, and I would be happy with that new point of view in my eyes, if it were removed from my mind.

[Dante]

The context of "this" is that the notebook is introduced in the preceding sentence.

"So you keep telling us," Klaus muttered, without looking up from his commonplace book. For quite some time, Klaus had been writing down the details of the Baudelaires' situation in this dark blue notebook, including the fact that it was the Baudelaires, not Olaf, who had burned down the Hotel Denouement.

-The End, pp. 6-7

(That it's no more accurate to say that the Baudelaires burned down the hotel than it is to say that they murdered Dewey, which is to say that they're both a pack of lies, is another matter. Let's just say they blame themselves.)