Did You Know? ~ The Voynich Manuscript (A Real Historical Mystery)

I’m a sucker for an interesting factual historical mystery. I often scour the internet or cable channels for little known topics. Recently I came across a mystery I’d never heard before: The Voynich Manuscript.

The Voynich Manuscript is a detailed 240-page book written in a language or script that is completely unknown. It was named after a Polish-American bookseller named Wilfrid M. Voynich. He acquired the book in 1912.

The pages are filled with drawings of plants (many of no known species), as well diagrams that appear to be of astronomical origin. Carbon dating has revealed that the book’s pages were made between 1404 and 1438.

Many theories exist about the origins of the book. The pictures of herbs and plants could point toward medieval or early modern medicine. Perhaps it was a textbook for an alchemist. And of course, some have suggested more fanciful answers, such as alien or lost civilization origins. 

Over the years, many people have tried to interpret the language in the book, including well known cryptologists. Based on the structure of the “words,” some have concluded the manuscript was written in an artificial, constructed language, even though the manuscript itself is not thought to be a hoax.

For those authors who lean toward speculative fiction or archeological thrillers, this would be a great starting point for a book idea.

Here are some URLs if you’re interested in reading more about this fascinating mystery:

http://beinecke.library.yale.edu/collections/highlights/voynich-manuscript

http://www.voynich.nu/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voynich_manuscript

And if you’re interested in trying your hand at solving the puzzle, or if you’re just curious, you can download the manuscript as a PDF file here:

 http://archive.org/details/TheVoynichManuscript