15-01-2026, 11:50 PM
On Jorge's notes (having trouble with the quote of a quote tech on forum..)
The "secret to sell to a rich guy" theory, in the way some (usually newer) people present it, has always been bothersome to me for some of the points you highlight. Mainly, Alchemy.
There is no need at all for.. well the VMS.. to pull this off. You just need Alchemy, and a convincing guy to sell it.
What I could see, if a secret was involved, is that the secret is "from far away". Something people had no access to but believed in (like later on people doing all sorts with "Hieroglyphs").
Pseudo eastern writings were popular in art of the time due to people believing it was the language Jesus spoke (+ "from far away"). So "from far away" was a market you could see someone tapping into. Even in the letters we see great interest in these mysterious plants and what their medicinal powers may be, maybe that is part of the "secret", it doesn't have to be so grand as "the philosophers stone".
We should also probably separate what it may have been made to be sold as, and what it may have been sold later as (if either are true). Was it always the "Cipher Manuscript" as it is called now (as its "wonder") or did it's label change over time and have different "wonder"? I think so personally. Just a grand(ish) looking "leechbooke" from far away full of things that looked exotic I would imagine would be very valuable.
TLDR - A secret could just be knowledge they had no access to but desired, I don't think its Alchemy related.
The "secret to sell to a rich guy" theory, in the way some (usually newer) people present it, has always been bothersome to me for some of the points you highlight. Mainly, Alchemy.
There is no need at all for.. well the VMS.. to pull this off. You just need Alchemy, and a convincing guy to sell it.
What I could see, if a secret was involved, is that the secret is "from far away". Something people had no access to but believed in (like later on people doing all sorts with "Hieroglyphs").
Pseudo eastern writings were popular in art of the time due to people believing it was the language Jesus spoke (+ "from far away"). So "from far away" was a market you could see someone tapping into. Even in the letters we see great interest in these mysterious plants and what their medicinal powers may be, maybe that is part of the "secret", it doesn't have to be so grand as "the philosophers stone".
We should also probably separate what it may have been made to be sold as, and what it may have been sold later as (if either are true). Was it always the "Cipher Manuscript" as it is called now (as its "wonder") or did it's label change over time and have different "wonder"? I think so personally. Just a grand(ish) looking "leechbooke" from far away full of things that looked exotic I would imagine would be very valuable.
TLDR - A secret could just be knowledge they had no access to but desired, I don't think its Alchemy related.