The total number of pages is around 240, but the exact number depends on how the manuscript's unusual foldouts are counted. The manuscript measures 23.5 by 16.2 by 5 cm (9.3 by 6.4 by 2.0 in), with hundreds of vellum pages collected into 18 quires. The codicology, or physical characteristics of the manuscript, has been studied by researchers. In 2020, Yale University published the manuscript online in its entirety in their digital library. The mystery of its meaning and origin has excited speculation and provoked study. The manuscript has never been demonstrably deciphered, and none of the proposed hypotheses have been independently verified. Codebreakers Prescott Currier, William Friedman, Elizebeth Friedman, and John Tiltman were unsuccessful. The Voynich manuscript has been studied by both professional and amateur cryptographers, including American and British codebreakers from both World War I and World War II. Since 1969, it has been held in Yale University's Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. The manuscript is named after Wilfrid Voynich, a Polish book dealer who purchased it in 1912. Most of the pages have fantastical illustrations and diagrams, some crudely coloured, with sections of the manuscript showing people, fictitious plants, astrological symbols, etc. The text is written from left to right, and some pages are foldable sheets of varying sizes. The manuscript consists of around 240 pages, but there is evidence that pages are missing. science fantasy or mythopoeia, metafiction, speculative fiction) currently lacking the translation(s) and context needed to both properly entertain or eliminate any of these possibilities. folkloric index or compendium), or work of fiction (e.g.

While the origins, authorship, and purpose of the manuscript are still debated, hypotheses range from a script for a natural language or constructed language, an unread code, cypher, or other form of cryptography, or perhaps a hoax, reference work (i.e. Stylistic analysis has indicated the manuscript may have been composed in Italy during the Italian Renaissance.

The Voynich manuscript is an illustrated codex, hand-written in an unknown script referred to as 'Voynichese.' The vellum on which it is written has been carbon-dated to the early 15th century (1404–1438). ? Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor → Jakub of Tepenec → Georg Baresch Athanasius Kircher (copies) → Jan Marek Marci (Joannes Marcus Marci) → rector of Charles University in Prague → Athanasius Kircher → Pieter Jan Beckx → Wilfrid Voynich → Ethel Voynich → Anne Nill → Hans Peter Kraus → Yale Įarliest information about its existence comes from a letter that was found inside the covers of the manuscript-the letter was written in either 1665 or 1666Įvidence of retouching of text on page 3 f1r Retouching of drawing on page 131 f72v3 Two manuscript copies which Baresch sent twice to Kircher in Rome

Herbal, astronomical, balneological, cosmological and pharmaceutical sections + section with recipesĬolor ink, a bit crude, was used for painting the figures, probably later than the time of creation of the text and the outlines themselves Very small number of words found in Latin script The smallest estimated number is 272 pages (i.e. diagrams or markings for certain parts related to illustrations),Ģ40 out of 272 pages found (≈ 88%) The rest of the manuscript appears in the form of graphics (i.e. One column in the page body, with slightly indented right margin and with paragraph divisions, and often with stars in the left margin Possibly natural or constructed language Ī very small number of words were found in Latin and High German

Manuscript cover letter jid