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The Mystery of the Voynich Manuscript
The Voynich Manuscript is an unusual 240-page, 600-year-old book written in an unknown language of looping script that has defied decipherment by the world’s best cryptographers and codebreakers.
Based on carbon dating, the mysterious work was believed to have been written sometime during the early 15th century. It was named after Wilfrid M. Voynich, an antique bookseller who had acquired it in 1912.
Its history can be traced back to the court of Holy Roman Emperor Rudolph II of Germany in the 1500s or 1600s, who believed it to be the work of famed philosopher Roger Bacon. It’s thought he had received the codex from an English Astrologer named John Dee and purchased it for 600 gold ducats, gold coins that had originated in Italy.
The ownership of the work beyond that time is murky, but the manuscript passed through several hands. It was in the possession of Jacobus Horcicky de Tepenecz, the court chemist of Rudolph II, for a time, and his signature was found on the first page.
It was passed to Prague alchemist Georg Baresch and then to Johannes Marcus Marci, a Bohemian doctor and scientist. Marci sent the book to the Jesuit scholar Athanasius Kircher in 1665, who was unable to decipher it.
The book was purchased from the Jesuit College near Rome by Voynich. It was eventually…
