07-12-2022, 06:18 PM
In my thorough research in ciphers from the time of the Voynich I have been very conscious of how much evidence has been lost to history. I have guessed that less than 1% of cipher keys and enciphered letters survive. This is on the basis of having a good idea of a sizeable portion of what survives; obviously I can't have seen everything and it is hard to quantify that of which I am unaware, however given that I have investigated the main European archives having such material I would be very surprised if I haven't seen at least 25% and at most 90%. I could again estimate the rough number of cipher keys/cipher ledgers and enciphered letters from around that time then in existence. These figures leads me to think that less than 1% of this original material survives to the present day.
I wonder how much of other kind of material survives. I would expect that a higher proportion of beautifully illustrated manuscripts survive. I wonder if enciphered letters were more likely to have been destroyed than other letters. So maybe enciphered letters are less likely than other documents to survive. Maybe cipher keys, proportionally, are more likely to survive than enciphered letters, however there also would have been many more enciphered letters than cipher keys.
I guess that crude estimates of the quantity of material surviving and the likelihood of a given document surviving can have some use in searching for documents be it in archives or online.
I wonder how much of other kind of material survives. I would expect that a higher proportion of beautifully illustrated manuscripts survive. I wonder if enciphered letters were more likely to have been destroyed than other letters. So maybe enciphered letters are less likely than other documents to survive. Maybe cipher keys, proportionally, are more likely to survive than enciphered letters, however there also would have been many more enciphered letters than cipher keys.
I guess that crude estimates of the quantity of material surviving and the likelihood of a given document surviving can have some use in searching for documents be it in archives or online.