Recently I've come across a very interesting link that puzzled me greately. Here is it:
www.voynich.nu/
Quote:
"In 1912, the antiquarian book dealer Wilfrid M. Voynich bought a number of mediaeval manuscripts from an undisclosed location in Europe. Among these was an illustrated manuscript codex of 234 pages, written in an unknown script.
Voynich took the MS to the United States and started a campaign to have it deciphered. Now, almost 100 years later, the Voynich manuscript still stands as probably the most elusive puzzle in the world of cryptography. Not a single word of this 'Most Mysterious Manuscript', written probably in the second half of the 15th Century, can be understood.
Attached to the manuscript was a letter in Latin dated 1666 from Johannes Marcus Marci of Kronland, once rector of the Charles University of Prague, to the learned Jesuit Athanasius Kircher in Rome, offering the manuscript for decryption and mentioning that it had once been bought by Emperor Rudolf II of Bohemia (1552-1612) for 600 gold ducats. The letter further mentioned that it was believed that the author of the MS was Roger Bacon (the Franciscan friar who lived from 1214 to 1294).
Another early owner of the MS was identified by Voynich when, on the lower margin of the first folio, under special illumination, the erased signature of Jacobus de Tepenec was found. Tepenec was one of Rudolf's private physicians and the director of his botanical gardens and he must have owned the manuscript between 1608, when he received his title "de Tepenec", and 1622, when he died. The MS has changed hands sevetal times, and despite some minor gaps in our knowledge its path from the court of Rudolf to its final resting place, the Beinecke Rare book library of Yale University, can be traced fairly accurately.
The MS became famous when, in the 1920's, William Romaine Newbold proposed a spectacular decipherment with which he meant to prove that it was indeed written by Roger Bacon, and that Bacon had not only dreamt of, but actually built microscopes and telescopes. When this 'solution' of the MS was disproven by John M. Manly in 1931, the MS gradually became a pariah in world of mediaeval studies. In the 1940's and 1960's the eminent cryptanalyst William F. Friedman made several valiant attempts at deciphering the MS, aided by groups of experts, but also he did not find any solution."
I'm not specialist at the field it concerns but I'm deadly curious about this problem. I've been trying to decipher MS 408 too but unsuccessfully. On AE we have people speaking all possible languages (or almost so) - may be anyone could do it or give some useful advice.
Still puzzled
Arsenka
PS: Maybe it's just sort of fake? What do you think?
|
I'm not very familiar with this topic and have only had a brief light look at it so far. At present i have onl had a look at general introductory material and reference articles. It seems that i can't offer any certain opinion unless/until i am able to look through all the pages of the Voynich Manuscript itself. I can't necessarily yet offer any answer to the "code" decipherment. The only thing i have to post so far is a first impression tentative opinion on what the author or date of creation of the manuscript.
This is only a very tentative and may be wrong but after my first study it seems to me that the person (or one of the persons) that the book seems most likely to have been written by is Jacob Horcicky "Sinapius" de Tepenec. The reasons for this are:
Voynich Ms: claimed to have been in Rudolf's library. Jacob Sinapius: was a courtier of Rudolf's.
Voynich MS: has main sections on herbs, astronomy, zodiacal, cosmology, recepies, biology, pharmacy. (Has pictures of plants.) Jacob Sinapius: was Imperial Distiller, curator of botanical gardens, personal physician, and chemist/pharmacist, and a tradition claims he cured Rudolf from a grave disease (though this last one may be apocryphal). (Alternatively, Mnis(h)ovsky's first name Raphael means "God heals", and he was a Dr and a tutor at a university.) He must have been able to read it at least?
Voynich Ms: faded name of Jacob's on 1st folio of the manuscript is maybe like a signature of the author? This has counter-criticisms though: They say he signed using the noble form which means after 1608 (though this is before the end of Rudolf's reign in 1611/2). They say several books he owed have similar form of his signature accompanied by a number (which is also found in the Voynich ms one too), and they are all similarily faded. Moreover i guess they have probably already checked to see if the handwriting is similar to that/those of the book. (Though they say the signatiure of his in the Voynich Ms doesn't match the signature of his in another document.) If the signature is genuine then none of the owners after him coulds have written the (whole) book (only parts possibly).
Voynich Ms: has Latin and Hebrew-like aspects? Jacob Sinapius: has Latin and Hebrew-origin names.
Voynich Ms: Pelzer's opinion was that the book is from late 16th or early 17th century, and from Czechoslovakia or Poland. De Ricci thought it was from "Central Europe", and Yale Uni catalogue also says written "in Central Europe" (with a question mark). (Two people also thought it was German (Salomon) or from Germany (Panofsky). Toresella though it was from Italy.) Jacob Sinapius: his coutier and nobility dates are 1607/1608-11/1622, and he was in Prague/Bohemia? (Bohemia was part of Holy Roman Empire which was roughly same as kingdom of Germany. Italy was also part of the HRE and not really thatfar from Bohemia?)
Voynich Ms: Why did Rudolf give Jacob the book?
Voynich Ms: The zodiacal and astronomical info in the book might possibly help to find what the place and time of the books writing was?
Voynich Ms: There is no strong proof for any origins before 1600 (no real proof of link with Bacon or Dee). Jacob is the most likely of all the main candidates. Carbon dating doesn't necessarily prove anything because carbon dating has been proven to be unreliable eg material in Sekhemkhet's buried pyramid complex dates 600 years old than his orthodox Egyptological date [which latter is itself also about 600 years old than his real date ca 1800s bc]. Radiometric dating depends on rates/speeds being uniforimatrian, and can be effected by somethings, and material that humans use might be use many years later than the material originated in natural world.
Voynich Ms: called "Sphynx/Sphinx". Jacob Sinapius: called "Sinapius". (Oedipus means "swollen foot", Jacobus means "heel catcher" and he limped. Thebes is similar to Tepenec. Oedipus awarded kingship, Sinapius was awarded nobility.) Compare: Codex Seraphinianus created by L Serafini "in a style reminiscent of the Voynich Manuscript"? (Though the name is also/alternatively abit like Sebuzinet and/or Beckx? The sphinx is female and together with "widows share" it might suggest a woman? The harlot Babylon in 'Revelation' is also a "widow". Though the answer to sphinx's riddle was "man"?)
The 1666 (and 1999) and 600 ducats and 18 quires (3 x 6) of course smacks of 666 and Solomon's 666 talents and Newton and 1656 yrs preflood. But not sure if or what significance is re answer of question of the origin of the book.
http://www.maryjones.us/jce/nennius_alphabet.html
Here is a rough draft timeline i compiled from sources:
11th cent - 1229 Cathars. 1229 Codex Gigas / Devil's Bible (records) 1214-1294 R Bacon, Franciscan friar, polymath, English (suspected author, letter) late 14th-15th cents (lettering resembles) 1404-1438 (carbon dated) 1460s Alberti inveted polyalphabetical ciphers 15th cent A Averlino 'Filarete', architect, N Italian (proposed writer) New World species in drawings not seen in Europe before 1493? 15th cent. LMIH / Badianus Ms, Aztec 1521-1576 ms dated to by Tucker & Talbert 1550 A Ascham c 1550 Cardigan grille perforated paper overlay invented 1599 K Widemann sold books to Rudolf 2. c1600 J Dee, mathematician & astrologer, Prague (son remembers, ms handwriting, Bk of Soyga, known to have owned a large collection of Bacon's mss, diaries not mention it). Ed Kelly, spirit medium of Dee 1552/76-1611/2 HRE Rudolf 2 of Habsburg, Prague (letter) 1607/1608-11/1622 Jacob Horcicky 'Sinapius' a/de Tepenec, Imperial Distiller, curator of botanical gardens, personal physician and courtier of Rudolf, hauptman/governor, Melnik (faded name on 1st folio of ms) Unknown / D Misseroni / G Barschius, intimate friend of Marci (former owner, letter)? c1618 Dr R Mnis(h)ovsky Sebuzinet de Horstein, tutor, cryptographer, friend of Marci (said/believed book, letter) Andreas Mueller played similar hoax on Kirchir. 1639-1646/1662 M G Baresch/Barschius, alchemist, friend of Marci, Prague (sent ms copies of "Sphynx", letters) 1639/1640/1641 Kirchir, friend of Marci (letters) 1665 JM Marci of Cronland, scientist, friend of Baresch/Kirchir/Mnishovsky, rector Charles Uni, Prague, Bohemia (letter) 1665 A Kirchir, Jesuit, Collegio Romano, Rome (sent ms copies, letter) GA Kinner, friend of Kirchir (asked K. if deciphered the book) Fr P P/J Beckx (acquired as part of collection of bks & ms all labeled as from library of)? Villa Torlonia, Castel Gandolfo? 1873-1912 Mondragone, Frascati, Rome (list of bks for sale published)? In/after 1911 Baer of Frankfurt showed Voynich ms to C Singer? 1904-1969 T de Marinis 1912-1921-1930 WM Voynich, Polish, Florence, London, US (acquired ms) 1921/1928 WR Newbold, Uni of Penns 1921/1931 JM Manly 1930-1960 EL Voynich, author, widow of W Voynich (inheritied ms) ["widow's share" written in the book?] 1932-1934-1954 Dr E Panofsky, art historian (ms origin theory) 1936 R Salomon, medieval history scholar (ms origin theory) 1936 A Nill quoted Salomon 1937 De Ricci (ms origin theory) 1940s WF Friedman (cryptographer) 1943 JM Feely (claimed bk is a scientific diary in shorthand) TC Petersen, Catholic Uni, Washington (photostats/copy, hand transcription) 1950(s) WF Friedman asked Brig J Tiltman to analyse pages of the text 1953 Mgr Pelzer (ms origin theory) 1959 Mgr J Ruysschaert (published list of books) 1960-1961 AM Nill (ms left to, sold book) 1961-1969 HP Kraus (bk sold to, donated ms) 1962 E Friedman (cryptanalyst) 1967 Brig Tiltman (analysis revealed cumbersome mixture of different kinds of substitution) 1969-2018 Beinecke Lib, Yale Uni, US (ms donated to, catalogue) 1976 JR Child, NSA (proposed ms is unknown N German dialect) 1978 RS Brumbaugh (claim ms forgery) 1978 ME d'Imperio 1978-1991 J Stojko (claim ms series letters) 1987 L Levitov (proposed ms is Cathar handbook) 1991 Stokjo's theory caused some sensation in Ukraine 1999 discovery of Baresch's letter 2001 G Landini 2001 Reddy 2003 copy of signature located by J Hurych located doesnt match 2003-2016 G Rugg, computer scientist 2004 J Stolfi 2004 Scientific American atricle 2004 G Kennedy & R Churchill (suggest bk may be cas of tongues/channeling) 2006-2014 N Pelling (proposed ms written by Filarete) 2007 A Schinner, Austrian researcher (study supported hoax hypothesis) 2009 Uni of Arizona (carbon dates samples of parts of ms) 2009 (spectrography performed) 2009 J Schuster 2009 Knight 2011 Reddy & Knight 2013 M Montemurro, physicist, Uni of Manchester (findings in ms text) 2013 Montemurro & Zanette 2013/2014 Dr D Amancio, IMCS, Uni of SP (analyse relationships of words in text) 2013/2014 AO Tucker & RH Talbert (identify plants in the text) 2014 (protein testing). 2014 multispectral images taken not show any signs of previous writing 2014-2017 Prof S Bax, Uni of Bedford (claim ms is treatise on nature) 2015 Hannah Lash commissioned by New Haven Symphony Orchestra to compose symphony imspired my the ms. 2015/2016 R Zandbergen (Voynich website) 2016 G Rugg & G Taylor 2017 E Duffy 2017 N Gibbs (claim decoded ms) 2017 Siloe (print replicas) 2018 Prof G Kondrak, Uni of Alberta (analysed ms).
Edited by Arthur-Robin - 01-Feb-2018 at 00:07
|