This is surely the most comprehensive and scholarly study of the Voynich Manuscript. An essential text for anyone studying this mysterious document.

Voynich Manuscript an Elegant Enigma (Cryptographic Series)

Politics & Social Sciences

D'Imperio, M.E.

Social Sciences

Aegean Park Pr

The reader may well wonder, “What still another paper on the Voynich manuscript?” So much has been written already on that most studies, most curious, and most mysterious manuscript upon which so many researchers have exhausted their faculties in vain. As a relatively recent newcomer to the ranks of Voynich manuscript research, the author retraced the steps of all his predecessors, rediscovering their sources, repeating their experiments, growing excited over the same promising leads that excited them, and learning only later that all these things have already been tried and had failed, often several times. The author does not wish to imply that he regrets any of his efforts. In fact, he little suspected, when he was first introduced to the problem of the Voynich manuscript at Brigadier Tiltman’s lecture in November 1975, that he would spend all his spare time for the next year on an intellectual and spiritual journey spanning so many centuries and ranging over so many aspects of art, history, philosophy, and philology. The fact remains that, in spite of all the paper that other have written about the manuscript, there is no complete survey of all the approaches, ideas, background information and analytic studies that have accumulated over the nearly fifty-five years since the manuscript was discovered by Wilfrid M. Voynich in 1912. Most of the papers have been written to advance or to refute a particular theory, providing in passing a brief glance at others’ efforts, primarily to sweep them out of the way. Much vital information is to be found only in unpublished notes and papers inaccessible to most students. The author felt that it would be useful to pull together all the information that he could obtain from all the sources and present them in an orderly fashion. This monograph is arranged in four main sections. First, the presentation of a survey of all of the basic facts of the problem: the “givens,” as it were. Second, coverage of all the primary avenues of attack and the information relevant to each, the external characteristics of the manuscript itself, the drawings, and the text. Third, a survey of the major claims of decipherment and other substantial analytic work carried out by various researchers. Fourth, a sketch of collateral and background topics which seem likely to be useful.

The Voynich Manuscript: An Elegant Enigma

History

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The Voynich Manuscript - An Elegant Enigma

The Voynich manuscript, often dubbed “the world’s most mysterious manuscript,” is a remarkable conglomeration, written in an unknown script and language and profusely illustrated with carefully rendered images of unidentified plants, enigmatic astronomical drawings, and puzzling human figures. Known to have existed since the late 16th century, when it was owned by the physician of that most enigmatic of rulers, the Emperor Rudolf II of Austria, it has been labeled variously as a magical manual, a herbarium, and a hoax. Both scholarly researchers and individual enthusiasts have linked this remarkable document to the Hermetic tradition, astrology, demonic and angelic magic, alchemy, the Cabala, and the history of Hindu-Arabic numerals. Many believe that it is an enormous –  and so far indecipherable –  book code within which the secrets of one or more of these subjects are concealed. "The Voynich Manuscript: An Elegant Enigma" provides a careful examination of this last hypothesis while also touching upon the myriad other possibilities raised by previous researchers. It gives a brief history of this mysterious work and a detailed discussion of the many unsuccessful attempts to crack the presumed code or cipher, or at least discover whether it is written in a natural or artificial language.  This fascinating study from the U.S. National Security Agency also raises the possibility, suggested more frequently in recent years, that the Voynich manuscript is a hoax. It concludes that, if so, the hoaxer must have labored for many years to create it – surely too much effort for very little known return. Also, given the penchant of early modern scientists and philosophers to disguise their researches through the use of symbols and allegory, its obscurity is not unprecedented, although obviously extreme.  Whether a hoax, a cipher, or a key to the infinite, this account of the Voynich manuscript and the efforts to probe its true meaning tells a great true story that rivals any bestselling novel. Scholars, puzzle solvers, and anyone interested in historical mysteries will find much to ponder in this indispensable study.

Center for Cryptologic History

Military

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