Tuesday, July 24, 2012

The Voynich Manuscript






When I was a middle schooler I was fascinated with the idea of Egyptian hieroglyphs.  How lovely to imagine an ancient civilization creating its own language so unique it took centuries to break the code.   For the longest time I thought this was the last "unknown" language to be discovered.  But I was wrong.

Some time during the early sixteenth century, there was a manuscript written in an unknown script and in an unknown language, which to date, has STILL not been cracked.  Named after the gentleman who purchased the book in 1912, scholars studying the document believe it might have come from northern Italy during medieval times.  




Some of the pages are missing and there are a lot of illustrations without rhyme or reason.  There has been debates throughout the years over who wrote the actual script and for what purpose.  It is suggested that the book was broken into six parts.  Those parts include herbal, astronomical, biological, cosmological, pharmaceutical, and recipes.  Top code breakers in the US during both World War I and World War II tried their hand at cracking the code with little success.  Finally in 1969, the Voynich manuscript was donated to the Beinecke Rare Book Library at Yale University.

I wonder who took the time all those centuries ago to create such a book?  Here I am, working so hard to create a little mystery of my own, and here's one practically right under my nose!

12 comments:

  1. Wouldn't it be fun if someone cracked it and found it that it was just a shopping list.

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    1. Hi JP! The manuscript is 200 pages long so that would be one heck of a shopping list...;0)

      Thanks for stopping by and come back any time!

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    2. You haven't seen my ravenous horde eat

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  2. Sometimes, my stories seem like that! Uncrackable!

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    1. Hi Genevieve! Yeah, I know what you mean...lol...sometimes some of my pages are missing like in this manuscript and I can never find them...;0)

      Thanks for stopping by and come back any time!

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  3. That is wild. And a grand idea. I ought to write some gibberish and bury it somewhere. Centuries from now, people will spend all sorts of time and money trying to decipher it. That would only be amusing if I were still here to witness it. Eewww! I would look terrible. Never mind.
    But at least, I learned about the Voynich Manuscript. Thanks, Donna.

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    1. Hey Janet...glad you liked it. There is actually much more to the story of the Voynich Manuscript so you should look it up in your spare time...;0)

      Thanks for stopping by and come back any time!

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  4. Very interesting....lol. Some of my work appears uncrackable to... glad I'm not alone...lol.

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    1. Awww, Diane, you're never alone...you've got us...;0)

      Thanks for stopping by and come back any time!

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  5. Thanks for telling me about this! This is cool!

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    1. Hi Erik! Yes, it is cool but there is more to read about the history of the Voynich Manuscript. If you ever get a chance, look it up and read more about the history of this book...

      Thanks for stopping by and come back any time!

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