The Esoteric Experience
The Voynich Manuscript
In 1912 Wilfrid Voynich discovered a manuscript in the Villa Mandragone, Italy. The manuscript contains numerous mysterious illustrations and seems to be in an unknown language, code or cipher. To this day, despite the attention of professional and amateur code breakers, the manuscript remains undeciphered.
The history of the manuscript is part conjecture, part fact. It is said to have passed through the hands of men such as Roger Bacon, John Dee, and Edward Kelley. It has also been associated with the Emperor Rudolf II, and Athanasius Kircher.
The manuscript can be divided up into several sections. The 'botanical' section containing 113 illustrations of plants; the 'astronomical' section containing what appear to be depictions of the sun, moon, stars and Zodiac, the 'balneological' section showing what looks like ogranic tubing and bathing nymphs; a large folding diagram containing nine interconnected circular diagrams or 'rosettes'; and a 'pharmaceutical' section showing what appear to be various roots, containers, and recipes.
The manuscript is now held in the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library at Yale University.
Click on the the images below to see samples of pages from the manuscript. The complete manuscript can be viewed at: http://beinecke.library.yale.edu/digitallibrary/voynich.html
The history of the manuscript is part conjecture, part fact. It is said to have passed through the hands of men such as Roger Bacon, John Dee, and Edward Kelley. It has also been associated with the Emperor Rudolf II, and Athanasius Kircher.
The manuscript can be divided up into several sections. The 'botanical' section containing 113 illustrations of plants; the 'astronomical' section containing what appear to be depictions of the sun, moon, stars and Zodiac, the 'balneological' section showing what looks like ogranic tubing and bathing nymphs; a large folding diagram containing nine interconnected circular diagrams or 'rosettes'; and a 'pharmaceutical' section showing what appear to be various roots, containers, and recipes.
The manuscript is now held in the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library at Yale University.
Click on the the images below to see samples of pages from the manuscript. The complete manuscript can be viewed at: http://beinecke.library.yale.edu/digitallibrary/voynich.html
Various theories have been proposed over the years to explain the manuscript:
- A highly complex cipher developed by Roger Bacon and containing alchemical secrets (Newbold).
- A gynecoligcal manual written by 16th century astrologer Anthony Ascham (Strong).
- An example of an artificial language, the lexicon to which has probably been lost (Friedman, Tilitman).
- A hoax to dupe Rudolf II of Bohemia by Elizabethan occultists John Dee and Edward Kelley (Brumbaugh, Rugg).
- A liturgical document written in a Cathar language describing a suicide ritual (Levitov).
- A 'book of secrets' written by Averlino and given a Roger Bacon cover story (Pelling).
Voynich Resources
2006, The Curse of the Voynich by Nicholas Pelling 2005, The Friar & the Cipher by Lawrence & Nancy Goldstone 2004, The Voynich Manuscript by Gerry Kennedy & Rob Churchill 1987, Solution of the Voynich Manuscript by Leo Levitov 1978, The Most Mysterious Manuscript by Robert Brumbaugh 1976, The Voynich Manuscript: An Elegant Enigma by Mary d'Imperio 1928, Cipher of Roger Bacon by William Newbold & Roland Kent http://www.voynich.nu/s_intro.html |
