The Voynich Ninja
Research that needs to be done / research ideas. - Printable Version

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RE: Research that needs to be done / research ideas. - nablator - 23-07-2026

(23-07-2026, 01:43 PM)DG97EEB Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.It's about how they uses AI to break the Borg Cipher You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.

Although that turned out to be a simple substitution.. Still, worth getting in touch with the team?

No need: it's published.

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RE: Research that needs to be done / research ideas. - Rafal - 23-07-2026

Borg Cipher seems a good thing to know about. Somehow I don't remember it being discussed on these forums before.

It's an existing, material proof that:

- manuscripts written (almost) completely in cipher existed in old times, it's an argument against people who claim it's too much work

- you can use cipher to write stuff that nobody else enciphers like (not-working) recipes and tricks in style of:

To keep a donkey from braying
A donkey which has a stone tied to its tail cannot bray acc. to Simonet a cordi


But it seems we are hijacking Koen's thread...

RE: Research that needs to be done / research ideas. - Jorge_Stolfi - 23-07-2026

(23-07-2026, 04:27 PM)Rafal Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.it's an argument against people who claim it's too much work
Hrmpf.  I grant you that much.

(But have you seen the Educational Anecdote I posted a while ago about the five scholars and the cows of Scotland? Big Grin )

Kicking from my side, that example should give pause to people who believe the VMS is encrypted and expect it to be be error-free.

So the Borg book seems to be a patchwork of excerpts from 4-5 different books.  Is there anything else published about who could be the author who compiled and encrypted it?

Is the "illuminati" in the title really "illustrated", as the prof quoted in the thesis said?  IIRC, the book has no illustrations.  Could it be something like "[for/from] those with knowledge"?

All the best, --stolfi

WE ARE THE BORG. YOU WILL BE ILLUMINATED. RESISTANCE IS FUTILE.

RE: Research that needs to be done / research ideas. - bi3mw - 23-07-2026

(23-07-2026, 05:54 AM)DG97EEB Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. from 3:30

A facsimile You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.

@DG97EEB:  Thanks for the tip. I couldn't resist buying the facsimile at an antiquarian bookstore in Rome ( Nomina et virtutes balneorum seu De balneis Puteolorum et Baiarum: Codice angelico 1474,  Istituto Poligrafico dello Stato, Roma, 1962).

RE: Research that needs to be done / research ideas. - DG97EEB - 23-07-2026

(23-07-2026, 09:47 PM)Jorge_Stolfi Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
(23-07-2026, 04:27 PM)Rafal Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.it's an argument against people who claim it's too much work
Hrmpf.  I grant you that much.

(But have you seen the Educational Anecdote I posted a while ago about the five scholars and the cows of Scotland? Big Grin )

Kicking from my side, that example should give pause to people who believe the VMS is encrypted and expect it to be be error-free.

So the Borg book seems to be a patchwork of excerpts from 4-5 different books.  Is there anything else published about who could be the author who compiled and encrypted it?

Is the "illuminati" in the title really "illustrated", as the prof quoted in the thesis said?  IIRC, the book has no illustrations.  Could it be something like "[for/from] those with knowledge"?

All the best, --stolfi

WE ARE THE BORG. YOU WILL BE ILLUMINATED. RESISTANCE IS FUTILE.

I quote a Mr R Zandbergen commenting on Pelling's blog You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.

"Rene Zandbergen
on February 17, 2016 at 8:08 am said:
Actually, what is just a bit intriguing is an entry on the German wiki page about him:

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that he ended up at the court of Rudolf II. If this is true then, given his apparent interest in cipher, he could be entry #142 on the list of people who might have brought the Voynich MS to Prague.

On the Italian version:

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we read that he returned to Rome in 1614 and seems to have lost his mind by 1616.

However, his name does not seem to appear in the enormously long list at the ‘Documenta Rudolfina’ website:
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so one may doubt……"

RE: Research that needs to be done / research ideas. - Jorge_Stolfi - 23-07-2026

(23-07-2026, 10:34 PM)DG97EEB Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.I quote a Mr R Zandbergen commenting on Pelling's blog You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.

Quote:... an entry on the German wiki page about him:
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
that he ended up at the court of Rudolf II. If this is true then, given his apparent interest in cipher, he could be entry #142 on the list of people who might have brought the Voynich MS to Prague.
On the Italian version:
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we read that he returned to Rome in 1614 and seems to have lost his mind by 1616....

Thanks!  So the "illuminati" in the title made sense for the original book, You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view..

Has H505 been digitized?  It would be interesting to know how many of the errors in the Borg copy were in the original, and how many were created by the copyist.

I suppose that the copyist who created the Borg version did not know Arabic.  If that is the case, it is an easy prediction that the Arabic script in the original was more, er, Arabic than in the copy.

All the best, --stolfi

RE: Research that needs to be done / research ideas. - nablator - 24-07-2026

(23-07-2026, 11:23 PM)Jorge_Stolfi Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Thanks!  So the "illuminati" in the title made sense for the original book, You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view..

Has H505 been digitized? 

Yes, the link is in the Calames page: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.