The Voynich Manuscript

This complete edition of the Voynich Manuscript includes a fascinating and authoritative foreword and introduction by Dr Stephen Skinner, Dr Rafal Prinke and Dr René Zandbergen, who together detail all that is currently known about this mysterious medieval manuscript, the only book in existence that has been written in this particular language and alphabet - a language that nobody can read. Drawing on their extensive knowledge of the period, of other esoteric and alchemical works and of the curious history of the Voynich, they explore its relation to magic and alchemy, and what may be guessed about the meaning of its beautiful illustrations. This information, together with the images themselves, invites readers to form their own interpretations of this most famous of enduring mysteries.The elegant design of this Watkins edition is a fitting showcase for the manuscript's strangely beautiful cryptographic script and otherworldly illustrations, which include astrological, astronomy, herbal medicine and enigmatic drawings of naked women bathing.

A UNIQUE INSIGHT INTO THE WORLD'S most mysterious manuscript. Since its creation in the first half of the 15th century, the Voynich Manuscript has fascinated and obsessed students of the esoteric, of magic and of alchemy, yet to date no one has managed to crack its code. It truly is one of a kind: the only book in existence that has been written in its particular language and alphabet - a language that no one can read. This magnificent edition presents stunning full-colour reproductions of every page of the Voynich Manuscript, along with helpful diagrams that show exactly how the folios are bound into this complex codex. Two introductory essays invite readers to interpret for themselves the clues found in the manuscript's strange and beautiful illustrations of plants, star constellations, enigmatic bathing women and cosmological diagrams. Dr Rafal T Prinke and Dr Rene Zandbergen also draw on the manuscript collections of eastern Europe, not normally accessible to English-speaking scholars, to offer the fullest explanation so far of the Voynich's incredible journey through history, while Dr Stephen Skinner explores the parallels to the Voynich Manuscript in the cryptography of Leonardo da Vinci and the Enochian angel language of John Dee.

The first authorized copy of this mysterious, much-speculated-upon, one-of-a-kind, centuries-old puzzle "For the first time, a complete reproduction [of] The Voynich Manuscript, has been published, featuring essays exploring what is known about the book and extra-wide margins so readers can record their responses to its beguiling, beautiful strangeness."-Nina Maclaughlin, Boston Globe "For people who like a good historical mystery, this . . . fifteenth- or sixteenth-century Voynich Manuscript will fascinate."-Rebecca Onion, Slate Many call the fifteenth-century codex, commonly known as the "Voynich Manuscript," the world's most mysterious book. Written in an unknown script by an unknown author, the manuscript has no clearer purpose now than when it was rediscovered in 1912 by rare books dealer Wilfrid Voynich. The manuscript appears and disappears throughout history, from the library of the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II to a secret sale of books in 1903 by the Society of Jesus in Rome. The book's language has eluded decipherment, and its elaborate illustrations remain as baffling as they are beautiful. For the first time, this facsimile, complete with elaborate folding sections, allows readers to explore this enigma in all its stunning detail, from its one-of-a-kind "Voynichese" text to its illustrations of otherworldly plants, unfamiliar constellations, and naked women swimming though fantastical tubes and green baths. The essays that accompany the manuscript explain what we have learned about this work-from alchemical, cryptographic, forensic, and historical perspectives-but they provide few definitive answers. Instead, as New York Times best-selling author Deborah Harkness says in her introduction, the book "invites the reader to join us at the heart of the mystery."

The first authorized copy of this mysterious, much-speculated-upon, one-of-a-kind, centuries-old puzzle "For the first time, a complete reproduction [of] The Voynich Manuscript, has been published, featuring essays exploring what is known about the book and extra-wide margins so readers can record their responses to its beguiling, beautiful strangeness."-Nina Maclaughlin, Boston Globe "For people who like a good historical mystery, this . . . fifteenth- or sixteenth-century Voynich Manuscript will fascinate."-Rebecca Onion, Slate Many call the fifteenth-century codex, commonly known as the "Voynich Manuscript," the world's most mysterious book. Written in an unknown script by an unknown author, the manuscript has no clearer purpose now than when it was rediscovered in 1912 by rare books dealer Wilfrid Voynich. The manuscript appears and disappears throughout history, from the library of the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II to a secret sale of books in 1903 by the Society of Jesus in Rome. The book's language has eluded decipherment, and its elaborate illustrations remain as baffling as they are beautiful. For the first time, this facsimile, complete with elaborate folding sections, allows readers to explore this enigma in all its stunning detail, from its one-of-a-kind "Voynichese" text to its illustrations of otherworldly plants, unfamiliar constellations, and naked women swimming though fantastical tubes and green baths. The essays that accompany the manuscript explain what we have learned about this work-from alchemical, cryptographic, forensic, and historical perspectives-but they provide few definitive answers. Instead, as New York Times best-selling author Deborah Harkness says in her introduction, the book "invites the reader to join us at the heart of the mystery."