The Secrets of an Ancient Codex

The Voynich Manuscript is an old relic forged by the unknown, with a purpose yet to be unveiled by the tiresome specialists who work day and night to uncover its secrets. However, it seems to provide a vivid set of drawings that can make you think about the pure essence of wisdom, shared as an intriguing set of images, complemented by an unknown language that seems elusive to the most brilliant minds.

Yet, the passage of time remains universal, where the old paper canvas becomes rusted by the endless power of time, and the words start fading away slowly.

The usage of carbon dating was essential to know that this book was created in the old days of 15th century (around 1404–1438), in central Europe. It is thought that Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II was one of it's earliest owners, but who crafted such an illusive marvel remains a mystery.

Ownership

This intriguing question is difficult to solve, but an incredible researcher named Stefan Guzy of the University of the Arts Bremen, Germany, identified a single sale book sale out of almost 7,000 journal entries. The value of the sale was an outstanding 600 gold coins (ducats or in some instances florins).

He found that in 1599, a physician named Carl Widemann sold a collection of manuscripts to Rudolf. This collection was described as "remarkable" and "rare", so Stefan theorized that the Voynish Manuscript was part of a small collection of books instead of a single one since the price was so high.

Stefan also tried to tighten the knots and think about the possibility that Widemann may have inherited some books from a botanist named Dr. Leonard Rauwolf, after his death.

Estimation time!

1 ducat:

23 karats and 8 greins (0.986 purity) & weight = 3.545 grams

gold -> 3.545 grams × 0.986 ≈ 3.49 grams of gold

current gold price/gram = 82,62€ [at 15:18 - 02/01/2025]

current price of one ducat = 3.49 grams × 82,62€ ≈ 298.42€

600 ducats:

weight of gold = 600 ducats × 3.49 = 2,094 grams (or ≈ 2.1 kg of gold)

current price of 600 ducats = 2,094 grams × 82.62€ ≈ 173,136€

current price of one ducat = 3.49 grams × 82,62€ ≈ 298.42€

weight of gold = 600 ducats × 3.49 = 2,094 grams (or ≈ 2.1 kg of gold)

current price of 600 ducats = 2,094 grams × 82.62€ ≈ 173,136€

Content

What we can yet perceive is that the book is divided into 6 distinct sections:

1. Botanical section → drawings and ciphers depicting known and unknown species of plants;
2. Astronomy and astrology → incredible star arrangements and the Sun and Moon, and knowledge of the zodiac;
3. Biological section → strange depictions of naked women immersed in fluids;
4. Cosmology → represented nine elaborate cosmological medallions and many other strange drawings on some folded folios;
5. Pharmaceutical section → what seems to be drawings of over 100 medicinal herbs and roots, with jars in red, green, and blue;
6. Recipe section → continuously written pages that resemble recipes of how to utilize the above information, possibly.

With 22.5 × 16 cm (8.9 × 6.3 inches) and 234 pages, the book is a mystery written in an unknown language which is interestingly called "Voynichese".

After cold nights of study, it was perceived different patterns unravel the existence of two distinct scripts, named Voynich A and Voynich B.

• Does this introduce the possibility of more than one scribe?

Theories

Given the strange nature of this manuscript, the truth of its purpose may be surrounded by a cloud of judgment and theories to explain its almost mythical existence:

• Some scholars may believe it is written in a complex language that was lost to time;
• Some others think that this was written following the rules of an existent language, but written in code, maybe because of its importance;
• Another theory states that this is an elaborate forgery created issue the interest of the wealthy or a scam created by Wilfrid Voynich himself in 1912;
• Maybe a cultural artifact from an unknown civilization or even extraterrestrial origins, with beliefs and ancient knowledge for us to uncover.

Fun Fact → Did you know that even specialists at the FBI tried to decipher, but failed?

Conclusion

Here we are, after extensive and exhausting reading about an old codex, certainly asking ourselves why people spend their lives studying such a strange artifact. In the end, I think that the unknown is the biggest factor in this fascination.

This manuscript is still to be uncovered, and maybe one day someone will be able to tell us what it is and all the great things we can learn from it. But until then, great minds will keep trying their hardest.

I thank you so much for reading, and if you enjoyed this, please share a huge heart and leave a comment. I do this with love, so if you would like to support me, I would greatly appreciate it.

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References

1. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Voynich-manuscript
2. https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2023/01/13/unknown-history-of-600-year-old-coded-voynich-manuscript-revealed-by-researcher
3. https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/9/18/16290436/voynich-manuscript-explained
4. https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/voynich-manuscript-origin-discovery-b2263031.html
5. https://beinecke.library.yale.edu/collections/highlights/voynich-manuscript
6. https://www.factualamerica.com/the-unseen-realm/13-documentaries-about-the-mystery-of-the-voynich-manuscript
7. https://undark.org/2020/02/12/decoding-bizarre-voynich-manuscript/
8. https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-3313/paper14.pdf
9. https://goldducats.com/about-ducats/
10. https://goldprice.org/
11. https://northernlight.nhcc.edu/northlight/voynich-manuscript