Distinguishing Characters

[Mark Knowles]

 nothing innovative comes from out of the blue.

This is a key and fundamentally important point. It is one that I have been repeating for sometime.

When it comes to the source for the ideas behind the Voynich cipher there are a few options:

1) The works of Ramon Llull either directly or mediated through the subsequent works of others. This has been discussed by others so I won't comment on it here. I would just say that it seems intricately very plausible.

2) Diplomatic Ciphers. These were the most advanced ciphers in use at the time from which the Voynich dates. There is clearly plenty more I could say on this point. This is obviously the source that I think exists for the Voynich cipher.

3) Non-diplomatic ciphers. These can display some interesting and intriguing features, but they tend to be much simpler than their diplomatic counterparts.

4) Antiquated ciphers. I don't know this topic well. Though I think the polybius square has been mentioned in this regard.

5) Other ciphers. These could be ciphers derived from accounting techniques or mathematical symbolism or some other sphere of thought. I can't give a good concrete example of these. And naturally the evidence for these is limited or non-existent.

However the idea that a cipher as complex as we see in  the Voynich manuscript emerged out of thin air is hard to believe. If it did then I can see the only explanation would be that it was invented by a great genius who was able to make such an intellectual leap out of nowhere. I would be surprised if we weren't well aware of this genius from another context. As we know the likes of Da Vinci is too late. So overall I see this as an unlikely, if attractive, explanation.