Voynich Manuscript

Voynich Manuscript
Author:
Publisher:
Total Pages: 276
Release: 2015-12-11
Genre: Ciphers
ISBN: 9781626542174

A facsimile of an object of unknown authorship that has been the source of study and speculation for centuries and remains undecipherable to this day.

The Voynich Manuscript

The Voynich Manuscript
Author: Wilfrid Voynich
Publisher: e-artnow
Total Pages: 210
Release: 2012-06-25
Genre: Reference
ISBN: 8087664191

This ebook is the complete reproduction of the preserved Voynich Manuscript, formatted for high resolution color ebook reader displays. The Voynich manuscript, also known as "the world's most mysterious manuscript", is a work which dates to the early 15th century, possibly from northern Italy. It is named after the book dealer Wilfrid Voynich, who purchased it in 1912. Much of the manuscript resembles herbal manuscripts of the time period, seeming to present illustrations and information about plants and their possible uses for medical purposes. However, most of the plants do not match known species, and the manuscript's script and language remain unknown and unreadable. Possibly some form of encrypted ciphertext, the Voynich manuscript has been studied by many professional and amateur cryptographers, including American and British codebreakers from both World War I and World War II. As yet, it has defied all decipherment attempts, becoming a cause célèbre of historical cryptology. The mystery surrounding it has excited the popular imagination, making the manuscript a subject of both fanciful theories and novels. None of the many speculative solutions proposed over the last hundred years has yet been independently verified. Illustrations: The illustrations of the manuscript shed little light on the precise nature of its text but imply that the book consists of six "sections", with different styles and subject matter. Except for the last section, which contains only text, almost every page contains at least one illustration. Following are the sections and their conventional names: Herbal: Each page displays one plant (sometimes two) and a few paragraphs of text—a format typical of European herbals of the time. Some parts of these drawings are larger and cleaner copies of sketches seen in the "pharmaceutical" section. None of the plants depicted is unambiguously identifiable. Astronomical: Contains circular diagrams, some of them with suns, moons, and stars, suggestive of astronomy or astrology. One series of 12 diagrams depicts conventional symbols for the zodiacal constellations (two fish for Pisces, a bull for Taurus, a hunter with crossbow for Sagittarius, etc.). Each of these has 30 female figures arranged in two or more concentric bands. Most of the females are at least partly naked, and each holds what appears to be a labeled star or is shown with the star attached by what could be a tether or cord of some kind to either arm. The last two pages of this section (Aquarius and Capricornus, roughly January and February) were lost, while Aries and Taurus are split into four paired diagrams with 15 women and 15 stars each. Some of these diagrams are on fold-out pages. Biological: A dense continuous text interspersed with figures, mostly showing small naked women, some wearing crowns, bathing in pools or tubs connected by an elaborate network of pipes, some of them strongly reminiscent of body organs. Cosmological: More circular diagrams, but of an obscure nature. This section also has foldouts; one of them spans six pages and contains a map or diagram, with nine "islands" or "rosettes" connected by "causeways" and containing castles, as well as what may possibly be a volcano. Pharmaceutical: Many labeled drawings of isolated plant parts (roots, leaves, etc.); objects resembling apothecary jars, ranging in style from the mundane to the fantastical; and a few text paragraphs. Recipes: Many short paragraphs, each marked with a flower- or star-like "bullet".

Blind Spot

Blind Spot
Author: Dr. Gordon Rugg
Publisher: Harper Collins
Total Pages: 238
Release: 2013-04-30
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 0062134736

The Voynich Manuscript has been considered to be the world's most mysterious book. Filled with strange illustrations and an unknown language, it challenged the world's top code-crackers for nearly a century. But in just four-and-a-half months, Dr. Gordon Rugg, a renowned researcher, found evidence (which had been there all along) that the book could be a giant, glittering hoax. In Blind Spot: Why We Fail to See the Solution Right in Front of Us, Dr. Rugg shares his story and shows how his toolkit of problem-solving techniques—such as his Verifier Method—can save the day, particularly in those times when the experts on your team have all the data in front of them but are still unaccountably at an impasse. In the tradition of Malcolm Gladwell and Dan Ariely, Dr. Rugg, a rising star in computer science, challenges us to re-examine the way we think, and provides new tools to solve problems and crack codes in our own lives.

The Voynich Manuscript

The Voynich Manuscript
Author: M. E. D'Imperio
Publisher:
Total Pages: 164
Release: 1978
Genre: Ciphers
ISBN:

In spite of all the papers that others 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. This report pulls together all the information the author could obtain from all the sources she has examined, and to present it in an orderly fashion. The resulting survey will provide a firm basis upon which other students may build their work, whether they seek to decipher the text or simply to learn more about the problem.

The Voynich Manuscript

The Voynich Manuscript
Author: Stephen Skinner
Publisher:
Total Pages: 364
Release: 2017-09-18
Genre:
ISBN: 9780369325716

''The Voynich Manuscript is the limit text of Western occultism. It is truly an occult book - one that no one can read.'' - Terence McKenna, ethnobotanist and mystic This complete edition of the Voynich Manuscript includes a fascinating and authoritative foreword and introduction by Dr Stephen Skinner, Dr Rafal Prinke and Dr RenÃ(c) Zandbergen, who together detail all that is currently known about this mysterious medieval manuscript, the only book in existence that has been written in this particular language and alphabet - a language that nobody can read. Drawing on their extensive knowledge of the period, of other esoteric and alchemical works and of the curious history of the Voynich, they explore its relation to magic and alchemy, and what may be guessed about the meaning of its beautiful illustrations. This information, together with the images themselves, invites readers to form their own interpretations of this most famous of enduring mysteries.The elegant design of this Watkins edition is a fitting showcase for the manuscript's strangely beautiful cryptographic script and otherworldly illustrations, which include astrological, astronomy, herbal medicine and enigmatic drawings of naked women bathing.

The Rohonc Code

The Rohonc Code
Author: Benedek Láng
Publisher: Penn State Press
Total Pages: 210
Release: 2021-04-08
Genre: History
ISBN: 0271090243

First discovered in a Hungarian library in 1838, the Rohonc Codex keeps privileged company with some of the most famous unsolved writing systems in the world, notably the Voynich manuscript, the Phaistos Disk, and Linear A. Written entirely in cipher, this 400-year-old, 450-page-long, richly illustrated manuscript initially gained considerable attention but was later dismissed as an apparent forgery. No serious scholar would study it again until the turn of the twenty-first century. This engaging narrative follows historian Benedek Láng’s search to uncover the truth about this thoroughly mysterious book that has puzzled dozens of codebreakers. Láng surveys the fascinating theories associated with the Codex and discusses possible interpretations of the manuscript as a biblical commentary, an apocryphal gospel, or a secret book written for and by a sect. He provides an overview of the secret writing systems known in early modern times and an account of the numerous efforts to create an artificial language or to find a long-lost perfect tongue—endeavors that were especially popular at the time the Codex was made. Lastly, he tests several codebreaking methods in order to decipher the Codex, finally pointing to a possible solution to the enigma of its content and language system. Engagingly written, academically grounded, and thoroughly compelling, The Rohonc Code will appeal to historians, scholars, and lay readers interested in mysteries, codes, and ciphers.

The Curse of the Voynich

The Curse of the Voynich
Author: Nicholas Pelling
Publisher:
Total Pages: 230
Release: 2006-01-01
Genre: Ciphers
ISBN: 9780955316005

For hundreds of years, the bizarre Voynich Manuscript has been the subject of intrigue and fascination. In this book, leading Voynich researcher Nick Pelling strips away the veils of deception to reveal the secret history of this mystery, looking at the people, the places and the politics behind this 'elegant enigma'.