This is an old revision of the document!
rnd links
- extensive study notes http://www.dcc.unicamp.br/~stolfi/voynich/
- http://highway49.library.yale.edu/photonegatives/ (enter 'voynich' in the search box
- when words fail http://www.linguafranca.com/9904/grossman.html
- The European Voynich Manuscript Transcription Project http://web.bham.ac.uk/G.Landini/evmt/
- The Voynich Manuscript is solved httpwww.voynich-manuskript.de ==== mini faq ==== ftp://ftp.rand.org/pub/voynich/mini-faq <file> Author: Bruce Grant Date: Sun, 16 Jul 1995 02:02:52 -0400 (EDT) Last update: 11 Jan 96, JJG From: bgrant@umcc.umcc.umich.edu (Bruce Grant) The following is a tentative “mini-FAQ” about the Voynich manuscript as a response for Internet queries about it. Please send me any suggestions you have for stuff to include in it, corrections, etc. at bgrant@umcc.ais.org. (For example, it might be nice to include the VM alphabet somehow, though I haven't been able to come up with a good- looking “ASCII art” version.) A Voynich Manuscript “Mini-FAQ” Q: What is the Voynich manuscript? A: This manuscript, which has been called “the most mysterious manuscript in the world”, is a quarto volume of about 170 pages, handwritten in an unknown alphabet and illustrated with drawings in several colors. The name “Voynich” refers to Wilfrid Voynich, who discovered it (in a collection) in Italy in 1912. The authorship and date of origin of the manuscript are unknown. It has been variously ascribed to the Roger Bacon and to Dr. John Dee among others. Different writers have suggested dates of origin anywhere from the 13th to the 16th century based on various features of the manuscript. The manuscript is believed to have been present at the court of Emperor Rudolph II of Bohemia in the early 1600's, and its whereabouts are known at a few later dates. It was purchased by Hans P. Kraus, an antiquarian bookseller, in 1961, and was later donated by him to Yale University. [This information is primarily from the D'Imperio monograph cited below.] Q: Where is the manuscript now? A: It is located in the Beineke Library at Yale University (New Haven, CT) and can be seen there. Q: Has it been translated or deciphered? A: No. Although several purported translations have been put forward, no one has convincingly established whether the manuscript is written in a known language (e.g. Latin, English), in some artificial or occult language, in a code or cipher of some form, or even whether it is meaningful or just a hoax. Q: Where can I get a copy? A: The manuscript has not been published to date, but photocopies are (or at least have been) available from the Beinecke Library, subject to an agreement not to re-copy or publish the text without the Library's permission. Beinecke Library P.O. Box 208240 New Haven, CT 06520-8240 (203) 432-2977 Q: Tell me more about the manuscript. What does it look like? A: A sample page is reproduced in: Kahn, David, _The Codebreakers: The Story of Secret Writing_, (New York: Macmillan, 1967) The text appears to have been written from left to right, top to bottom, in an alphabet of approximately 36 symbols. The alphabet is very attractive but is not known to appear in any other manuscript. It has some resemblances to Arabic script and to medieval Latin and Greek abbreviations, but has not been identified as a version of any known script. The illustrations are intermingled with the text and appear to include male and female human figures (naked and clothed), stars, signs of the Zodiac, flowers, pipes and vats, and many other curious figures. Q: What's available on the net? A: There is an Internet mailing list for people interested in the Voynich Manuscript, run by Jim Gillogly (jim@rand.org). To subscribe: [TBS] To post: send mail to voynich@rand.org To unsubscribe: [TBS] (Lately this has been a low-volume mailing list, however.) There is no Usenet newsgroup. There are two ftp sites with Voynich stuff: rand.org:/pub/voynich netlib.att.com:/math/people/reeds (also reachable as http://netlib.att.com/math/people/reeds/voynich.html) and another Web page: http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/users/mrr/voynich/index.html Q: Where can I get more information? A: The most extensive document about the Voynich Manuscript appears to be a monograph written by M.E. D'Imperio in the late 1970's: M.E. D'Imperio, _The Voynich Manuscript: An Elegant Enigma_ Reprints of this intriguing, 137-page book are available from: Aegean Park Press P.O. Box 2837 Laguna Hills, CA 92653 (714) 586-8811 The monograph also includes a bibliography of over 300 books and articles either about the manuscript or about possibly related subjects (e.g. secret languages, alchemy, botany, Cabbala, Roger Bacon, Dr. Dee, etc.) An article by Jim Reeds on the Voynich Manuscript appeared in the January 1995 issue of _Cryptologia_ magazine. This magazine is published by: Rose-Hulman Institute 5500 Wabash Terre Haute, IN 47803 (812) 877-1511 Compiled by Bruce Grant (bgrant@umcc.ais.org) </file>