Transcription of the Voynich Manuscript

David Kahn describes the history of the Voynich Manuscript in "The
Codebreakers", pp. 863ff.  It is written in a mysterious script, and has
defied solution by some of the most accomplished cryptanalysts in the
world.  There have been several purported breaks, including one rather
recent one, but none has been widely accepted.  The attached transcription
was done by Mary D'Imperio, author of "The Voynich Manuscript:  An Elegant
Enigma" (1978), the most detailed and scholarly study to date of this
document (reprint available from Aegean Park Press).  It uses Prescott
Currier's notation, which is described in her monograph.

To connect you quickly with it, here is an example from the middle.  These
are the first few lines of the example given on page 865 of "The
Codebreakers."

15201B 4CPC89/ZC89/4OPOE/O8AE/SAE/8AD/4OBZC89/4OPC89/4OPC89/4OFC89/8AE-
15202B CEZC89/4OEZCC89/49RS2/98CC89/OFC89/EZC89/SR/Z8AE/SC89/4OEF9-
15203B 4/FCCC9/ZC89/4OFCC89/4O89FC9/4OFC89/2ZCC89/PA3/ZCOE/PCC89/9R9-
15204B 8SCOE/FZC9/4OESZ9/SCOE/OESC89/OES2/OEZCC89/4OFC89/SC89-
15205B PSC8AR/AEAN/SCX9/2AE/ZC89/4OFAE/SC89/4OFC89/4OE/ZC89/EOE-

152 is the page number, 01-05 are line numbers, and B signifies that it's
written in the second (of 2) different handwriting styles.  Slashes
separate words, - indicates the end of the line.  Note that the isolated
words scattered through the pictures at the top are not transcribed.

If you use this work in your analysis, please be sure to give credit to
D'Imperio for this transcription.


	Jim Gillogly
	jim@rand.org
	18 Nov 1991

Disclaimer: The file contained in the box above or displayed in a separate window from a link in the box above is NOT owned nor implied to be owned by BeYoND THe iLLuSioN. Most files at BeYoND THe iLLuSioN are originally from public Bulletin Board Systems (BBS) which were popular in the days before the Internet or from gopher, web, and FTP sites from the early days of the Internet which no longer exist today. Essentially, all files were acquired from the public domain in one for or another.

However, there have been occasions when copyright protected material has appeared on BeYoND THe iLLuSIoN without permission of the copyright holder. In these instances, we have and will continue to remove the copyright protected file as soon as it is brought to our attention. This can now be done using our Report Copyright Material form. Fill out the form, and the webmaster will be notified of the situation.

There are also times when files found on BeYoND THe iLLuSioN have a real home somewhere else on the Internet. In these instances, we will gladly replace the file with a link to its true home whenever it is brought to our attention. If you know of the true home of any of these files, you can use our Report Original URL form to bring it yo our attention.