The Voynich Manuscript

This ebook is the complete reproduction of the preserved Voynich Manuscript,
formatted for high resolution color ebook reader displays. The Voynich
manuscript, also known as "the world's most mysterious manuscript", is a work
which dates to the early 15th century, possibly from northern Italy. It is
named after the book dealer Wilfrid Voynich, who purchased it in 1912.

Much of the manuscript resembles herbal manuscripts of the time period,
seeming to present illustrations and information about plants and their
possible uses for medical purposes. However, most of the plants do not match
known species, and the manuscript's script and language remain unknown and
unreadable. Possibly some form of encrypted ciphertext, the Voynich manuscript
has been studied by many professional and amateur cryptographers, including
American and British codebreakers from both World War I and World War II. As
yet, it has defied all decipherment attempts, becoming a cause célèbre of
historical cryptology. The mystery surrounding it has excited the popular
imagination, making the manuscript a subject of both fanciful theories and
novels. None of the many speculative solutions proposed over the last hundred
years has yet been independently verified.

Illustrations:
The illustrations of the manuscript shed little light on the precise nature of
its text but imply that the book consists of six "sections", with different
styles and subject matter. Except for the last section, which contains only
text, almost every page contains at least one illustration. Following are the
sections and their conventional names:

Herbal:
Each page displays one plant (sometimes two) and a few paragraphs of text—a
format typical of European herbals of the time. Some parts of these drawings
are larger and cleaner copies of sketches seen in the "pharmaceutical"
section. None of the plants depicted is unambiguously identifiable.

Astronomical:
Contains circular diagrams, some of them with suns, moons, and stars,
suggestive of astronomy or astrology. One series of 12 diagrams depicts
conventional symbols for the zodiacal constellations (two fish for Pisces, a
bull for Taurus, a hunter with crossbow for Sagittarius, etc.). Each of these
has 30 female figures arranged in two or more concentric bands. Most of the
females are at least partly naked, and each holds what appears to be a labeled
star or is shown with the star attached by what could be a tether or cord of
some kind to either arm. The last two pages of this section (Aquarius and
Capricornus, roughly January and February) were lost, while Aries and Taurus
are split into four paired diagrams with 15 women and 15 stars each. Some of
these diagrams are on fold-out pages.

Biological:
A dense continuous text interspersed with figures, mostly showing small naked
women, some wearing crowns, bathing in pools or tubs connected by an elaborate
network of pipes, some of them strongly reminiscent of body organs.

Cosmological:
More circular diagrams, but of an obscure nature. This section also has
foldouts; one of them spans six pages and contains a map or diagram, with nine
"islands" or "rosettes" connected by "causeways" and containing castles, as
well as what may possibly be a volcano.

Pharmaceutical:
Many labeled drawings of isolated plant parts (roots, leaves, etc.); objects
resembling apothecary jars, ranging in style from the mundane to the
fantastical; and a few text paragraphs.

Recipes:
Many short paragraphs, each marked with a flower- or star-like "bullet".