Text Characterization-Cracking the Voynich Code 2022
Contents
Overview
The following is a characterization of the Voynich Manuscript. The purpose of this characterization is to give the reader a broad overview of the text, including its history, layout and interesting details. Comparing the characteristics of the manuscript to those of other texts is invaluable in selecting appropriate texts to test various cryptographic methodologies against.
Background
The Voynich Manuscript (VM) is an ancient text written in a script which nobody alive today is known to be able to recognise, let alone read. The VM contains images of plants, astrological charts, and bathing women among others. It has been the subject of cryptographic attention for decades, and there have been many claims and assertions into its origins or meanings, none conclusive enough to be accepted.
History
A brief history of the VM serves well to give the text contained within some context. The exact origin of the VM is unknown, but it has been carbon dated to the 15th century with a 95% certainty(1). This alone gives the text a strong context, and it reinforced by the very aesthetic of the the VM itself. The pictures contained within have striking similarities to others from the Late-Medieval European period. For further context, below is a brief timeline of historical references to the VM:
- 1
- 1639 - Athanasius Kircher, a clergyman in Rome sends a letter to Theodorus Moretus, a clergyman in Prague. The letter is a reply to a request by Moretus to translate the VM, on behalf of Georgius Barschius. Kircher mentions that the script looks similar to Illyrian.(2)
- 1639 - Barschius writes a letter to Kircher, explaining that he owns a mysterious book written in an unknown script and including pictures of plants, stars and chemical secrets. He hopes that Kircher may be able to decipher it. He guesses that the author may have travelled to "the orient" and Egypt, recording his medical findings.(2)
- ???? - Johannes Marcus Marci inherits the alchemical library of Barschius. (1)
- 1665 - Marci writes a letter to Kircher, offering him the VM and mentioning that it was once owned by Rudolph II, who bought it from a messenger. Marci mentions that he was told it was authored by Roger Bacon, an Englishman, but he doesn't appear to completely believe this. (2)
