The “Voynich Manuscript” is a 15th century manuscript discovered in 1912. It’s full of cryptic handwriting and mysterious symbols and drawings and has attracted interest for more than a century. Now one researcher may have discovered what it’s actually about. From Ars Technica:
Since its discovery in 1969, the 15th century Voynich Manuscript has been a mystery and a cult phenomenon. Full of handwriting in an unknown language or code, the book is heavily illustrated with weird pictures of alien plants, naked women, strange objects, and zodiac symbols. Now, history researcher and television writer Nicholas Gibbs appears to have cracked the code, discovering that the book is actually a guide to women’s health that’s mostly plagiarized from other guides of the era.
Gibbs writes in the Times Literary Supplement that he was commissioned by a television network to analyze the Voynich Manuscript three years ago. Because the manuscript has been entirely digitized by Yale’s Beinecke Library, he could see tiny details in each page and pore over them at his leisure. His experience with medieval Latin and familiarity with ancient medical guides allowed him to uncover the first clues.
Read the whole thing. Mr. Gibbs’s theory makes pretty good sense.
It do make sense though, still believe embedded within is a map to the Plateau of Leng, a hymn to the Haunter in the Dark, and the Colonel’s secret recipe.
Very interesting article. Thanks, Mr. Schuler.