Tuesday, December 14, 2010

The Tale of the Voynich Manuscript

With all of the research that has been done on nearly every aspect of our history, it is sometimes surprising to hear that there are still some artifacts and events that escape our understanding. I learned about one such artifact from a classmate who did research on something called the Voynich Manuscript for their final project.

According to Wikipedia (and my classmate), "The Voynich manuscript is a handwritten book thought to have been written in the 15th or 16th century and comprising about 240 vellum pages,[notes 1] most with illustrations. The author, script, and language remain unknown: for these reasons it has been described as "the world's most mysterious manuscript".[1]" Here are some of the images contained within:







Aren't those cool?? There are tons of conspiracy theories surrounding this manuscript. Its ownership can be traced for its entire history except for 200 years when no one knows where it was or what happened to it. Various testing and dating has proven that the manuscript's parchment and ink are authentic to the time period that it is supposedly from (the 15th or 16th century). No one, and I mean no one, has yet been able to decipher the language or code that this manuscript is written in. I am fascinated by this! How, in all this time, has no one been able to figure out what it's about? Is it real? Is it a fake? Does it mean anything at all? Does it contain some sort of astounding secret, or if we ever decipher it will it just tell us something obvious, like poison ivy is poisonous? It's a mystery...

2 comments:

  1. V. cool. As a resident medievalist, I thoroughly approve.

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  2. Ahoj Jessica,
    Manuscript Voynich = manuscript Gold Mud (Zlato-bláto).
    Author manuscript = John of Lazy(Czech alchemyst 15 th).
    The manuscript is writen and encypted in the Czech language. Manuscript can not resolve the English language.Contain nothing mysterious,alchemical many only description of operations.I have compiled many pages of the manuscript.Pictures are only symbolic.Women in the alchemy symbol of rebirth.And not only in alchemy.Plants are only symbolic.

    Zlatoděj J.T.

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