The Voynich Manuscript: The Unsolved Riddle of an Extraordinary Book Which Has Defied Interpretation for Centuries

by Rob Churchill and Gerry Kennedy

Book Overview

In 1912, Wilfrid Voynich, an antiquarian book dealer, stumbled upon a strange volume, its vellum pages covered in a beautiful but unrecognisable script accompanied by equally mystifying pictures. The... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 075286422X
• ISBN13: 9780752864228
• Release Date: July 2004
• Publisher: Orion Publishing Group
• Length: 294 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.1" x 7.7"

Customer Reviews

A Naked Lady Mystery

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! Robert C. Ross 2008

Simply the best source of information on the voynich manuscript!

The best and most well-written source about the elusive voynich manuscript. This book covers the alleged owners, possible clues to the cypher, the history of the manuscript itself, and so much more.

Fascinating Riddle Within an Enigma

The Voynich manuscript remains one of the most puzzling artifacts handed down to us from antiquity. It is in an unknown language, using an unknown script, and not so much as a word has been successfully translated (though many have tried). It is filled with whimsical illustrations of plants that cannot be identified, stars that do not exist, and astrological diagrams unlike anything seen elsewhere. It is also filled with drawings of naked women cavorting in vessels of green liquid for purposes which cannot be fathomed. The author is unknown, the date is unknown (although figured to be between 1250-1450), and how the manuscript came to be preserved for the past 650 years is also a mystery. It has been suggested by some researchers, and the authors of this book tentatively agree, that the whole thing might be an elaborate Medieval fake. Yet the sheer magnitude of it -- 272 pages, 211 illustrations, 170,000 characters, all carefully arranged and consistently produced -- would seem to argue against that. Add to that the statistical analysis of the text, which indicates that it probably *is* a legitimate language, and you have a real puzzle on your hands. Since so little has been gleaned from the manuscript itself, the authors take the reader on a tour through Medieval scholarship, alchemy, astrology, astronomy, religious history and cryptology (since many have speculated it could be in some kind of code). The lives of several of the proposed authors are studied, along with many people who may have had a hand in preserving it. Thus the book is about a lot more than the manuscript itself, and indulges in many fascinating digressions along the way. In the end, the riddle remains unsolved. The Voynich is probably a minor alchemical text of no particular import, perhaps the last surviving text in this language after the Crusades destroyed nearly 80% of the world's non-Christian libraries. For a fascinating glimpse into the superstitious Medieval world and the learning lost through subsequent winnowing by rampaging zealots, this book offers an excellent read.

Fascinating Riddle Within an Enigma

The Voynich manuscript remains one of the most puzzling artifacts handed down to us from antiquity. It is in an unknown language, using an unknown script, and not so much as a word has been successfully translated (though many have tried). It is filled with whimsical illustrations of plants that cannot be identified, stars that do not exist, and astrological diagrams unlike anything seen elsewhere. It is also filled with drawings of naked women cavorting in vessels of green liquid for purposes which cannot be fathomed. The author is unknown, the date is unknown (although figured to be between 1250-1450), and how the manuscript came to be preserved for the past 650 years is also a mystery. It has been suggested by some researchers, and the authors of this book tentatively agree, that the whole thing might be an elaborate Medieval fake. Yet the sheer magnitude of it -- 272 pages, 211 illustrations, 170,000 characters, all carefully arranged and consistently produced -- would seem to argue against that. Add to that the statistical analysis of the text, which indicates that it probably *is* a legitimate language, and you have a real puzzle on your hands. Since so little has been gleaned from the manuscript itself, the authors take the reader on a tour through Medieval scholarship, alchemy, astrology, astronomy, religious history and cryptology (since many have speculated it could be in some kind of code). The lives of several of the proposed authors are studied, along with many people who may have had a hand in preserving it. Thus the book is about a lot more than the manuscript itself, and indulges in many fascinating digressions along the way. In the end, the riddle remains unsolved. The Voynich is probably a minor alchemical text of no particular import, perhaps the last surviving text in this language after the Crusades destroyed nearly 80% of the world's non-Christian libraries. For a fascinating glimpse into the superstitious Medieval world and the learning lost through subsequent winnowing by rampaging zealots, this book offers an excellent read.