Voynich Manuscript scans reveal early decoding attempt
Multispectral imaging has uncovered that the baffling symbols in the 15th-century document—dubbed the world’s most mysterious manuscript—were scrutinised by its owner, a Prague doctor.
A researcher studying multispectral images of the famous Voynich Manuscript has identified previously hidden columns of letters on its first page. The three columns—two bearing
The Art Newspaper
September 25, 2024
© Photographs by Wikimedia creative commons
letters of the alphabet and one of unreadable “Voynichese” characters—appear to have been added by one of the manuscript’s early owners to decrypt its mysterious writing.
Related articles
The Art Newspaper
- Trove of coded letters written by an imprisoned Mary Queen of Scots are cracked (February 2023)
- Unknown history of 600-year-old, coded Voynich Manuscript revealed by researchers (January 2023)
- Lost star catalogue found hidden on the pages of a medieval manuscript (October 2022)
- The Voynich Manuscript's mysteries endure more than a century after its discovery (August 2022)
- Fascinated by the Voynich Manuscript? Here are some other mysterious texts you can decode (July 2021)
- The write stuff: new analysis on Dead Sea Scrolls sheds light on the scribes behind them (April 2021)
- Has Yale's mysterious Voynich Manuscript finally been deciphered? (June 2020)
SC Exhibitions
- John Dee at the Royal College of Physicians (May 2016)