The Voynich Manuscript: The Mysterious Code That Has Defied Interpretation for Centuries [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

The Voynich manuscript is filled with drawings of fantastic plants, zodiacal symbols and naked ladies. More mysterious is the accompanying text, 234 pages of beautifully formed script that has not been deciphered.

Wilfrid Voynich bought the manuscript in 1912 and started circulating copies in the hope of having it translated. The manuscript is written in "Voynichese", which consists of strange characters, some of which look like normal Latin letters and Roman numerals. Some analysts have suggested that Voynichese is a modified form of Chinese. Others think it may be Ukrainian with the vowels taken out. But Voynichese words do not resemble those of any known language. The internal structure of Voynichese words, and how they fit together in sentences, is unlike patterns seen in other languages.

Cryptographers haven't been able to crack the code, despite a number of efforts to do so. From time to time, NASA reviews the literature; the book labels some patches of the sky with unfamiliar constellations. Modern historians of astronomy efforts to understand the origins of these constellations are as unavailing as those of modern code-breakers.

The text could just be gibberish, an artifact created to sell to Emperor Rudolph as the work of Roger Bacon for 600 gold ducats. Or perhaps Voynich himself created the manuscript.

Gerry Kennedy and Rob Churchill explore the mystery surrounding the Voynich Manuscript, examining the many existing theories about the manuscript. They discuss people who may be connected to it, including Roger Bacon, John Dee, and the Cathars.

If you are interested in exploring the mystery for yourself, you can find the entire text by Googling "Beinnecke Rare Book Yale" and entering MS 408 as a call number. You can download the pages and purchase relatively poor photocopies of specific pages from Yale. Wikipedia has a long discussion of the book with an Index that rivals that in the Kennedy/Churchill book.

Two other good books on the subject include Voynich Manuscript an Elegant Enigma: An Elegant Enigma (Cryptographic Series , No 27) by Mary E. D'Imperio and The Most Mysterious Manuscript: The Voynich "Roger Bacon" Cipher Manuscript by Robert S. Brumbaugh.

Happy solving!

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Addendum: December 14, 2009. A new interpretation has been offered and defended by Edith Sherwood, Ph.D. The essence of her argument appears on her webpage -- link in the fourth Comment below:

"Edith Sherwood Ph.D. The Voynich Manuscript Decoded?

"I give examples to show that the code used in the Voynich Manuscript is probably a series of Italian word anagrams written in a fancy embellished script. This code, that has been confusing scholars for nearly a century, is therefore not as complicated as it first appears.

"Leonardo da Vinci and the Voynich Manuscript

"The Voynich Manuscript may have been written by a young Leonardo da Vinci as evidenced by a similarity to Leonardo's script and signature, an indication of mirror writing, and an astrological chart that corresponds to Leonardo's birthday. Mistakes in the manuscript point to the possibility that a precocious child could have been the author."

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Robert C. Ross 2008 2009

After reading, be sure to check out the latest info on Google. Carbon dating has been done by the University of Arizona.

Literary adventurers pounce on the opportunity to become enchanted by mysterious codes, their origins and authors shrouded in secrecy. Such curiosities allow their readers to take up magnifying glasses and burn midnight oil, fancying themselves the one to provide decades-hidden insight. It is with such vigor that one approaches The Voynich Manuscript, by Gerry Kennedy and Rob Churchill. The authors deliver a thorough exploration of a potentially insightful Goddess-oriented manuscript against a paternalistic playground of men attempting to understand and exploit it. To that end, this book is more about the story of the key figures and life around the manuscript, than it is on providing a solid focus on decoding the codex, itself. Found in 1912 by Wilfrid Voynich, the legacy of the manuscript came under public scrutiny, where it remains still. Kennedy learned at the funeral of a family member that Voynich was a distant relative of his. Through that lens the introduction of the text is quite personal, though the book quickly progresses into academic detailing of the manuscript's supposed journey into the present.

Through many conjectures about the linguistic origins of the text and the possible influences of its outlandish astrological and horticultural illustrations, there is still little known about the origins of the manuscript. Cryptologists may enjoy the abundance of chapters devoted to the meticulous methods employed in attempting to decipher the code. More esoteric types may resonate with the scant pages lending it to being a written account of glossolalia (speaking in tongues), or the artful result of medieval mental illness. The authors even give rich exploration to the possibility that the manuscript is a hoax. Whatever impression readers take from the research behind this book about the Voynich Manuscript, without doubt they will have been impressed by the legacy and mystery of its path.