21-07-2026, 03:39 PM
(This post was last modified: 21-07-2026, 06:29 PM by Mark Knowles.)
I have on my OneDrive photoreproductions of the following Cipher Ledgers:
The Cipher Ledger of Paolo Guinigi, who was Lord of Lucca in the early 15th century it is from the Archivio di Stato di Lucca
The Cipher Ledger of Francesco Gonzaga, who was the Marquis of Mantova in early 15th century it is from the Archivio di Stato di Mantova
The Albertoni Cipher Ledger in the Biblioteca Statale di Cremona it dates from 1444 onwards
The Codex Urbinate which was the cipher ledger of the Count(later Duke) of Urbino, who was also a famous condottieri/mercenary army for hire, in the Vatican Library dates from 1444 onwards
(There is also a Venetian Cipher ledger from 1444 to 1452 that has recently been discovered.) [1444 again, I don't know why]
There are also a number of loose cipher keys and enciphered letters whose background could be researched.
At the top of every cipher key there is normally the name of the correspondent. And at the front of the cipher ledger there is normally also a contents listing of the correspondents. By reading the 15th cursive handwriting one can determine the name of each correspondent, sometimes reading the handwriting can be difficult. When one knows the name of the correspondent one can research online who that person was and so find out what their job title was and who they worked for. Sometimes a cipher key will have the year it was created written at the top otherwise one can try to date a cipher key by studying the references in the key as I have discussed elsewhere in the forum.
I have done this kind of task before, so if someone wants direction on this they can contact me.
I have scanned Lydia Cerioni's 2 volume work in Italian, "La diplomazia..." and it is on my OneDrive. Lydia Cerioni studied the Tranchedino Cipher ledger and ciphers in the Milan State Archives and did what I am describing for those documents. So, I can share that with someone so that they can see what she did.
If you have any questions or need more details then please ask me.
Ultimately, if you think that the Voynich Manuscript might be written in cipher then there is good reason for you to be interested in cryptography from the time of the Voynich.
I myself would find the results of this research very interesting and quite useful. I also think the historical cryptography research community would find them interesting and useful. And this research could be done from your desk without the need to visit archives as I have photos of all the documents. I haven't done this research myself as it is not top priority in my research and I have many other avenues to research.
The Cipher Ledger of Paolo Guinigi, who was Lord of Lucca in the early 15th century it is from the Archivio di Stato di Lucca
The Cipher Ledger of Francesco Gonzaga, who was the Marquis of Mantova in early 15th century it is from the Archivio di Stato di Mantova
The Albertoni Cipher Ledger in the Biblioteca Statale di Cremona it dates from 1444 onwards
The Codex Urbinate which was the cipher ledger of the Count(later Duke) of Urbino, who was also a famous condottieri/mercenary army for hire, in the Vatican Library dates from 1444 onwards
(There is also a Venetian Cipher ledger from 1444 to 1452 that has recently been discovered.) [1444 again, I don't know why]
There are also a number of loose cipher keys and enciphered letters whose background could be researched.
At the top of every cipher key there is normally the name of the correspondent. And at the front of the cipher ledger there is normally also a contents listing of the correspondents. By reading the 15th cursive handwriting one can determine the name of each correspondent, sometimes reading the handwriting can be difficult. When one knows the name of the correspondent one can research online who that person was and so find out what their job title was and who they worked for. Sometimes a cipher key will have the year it was created written at the top otherwise one can try to date a cipher key by studying the references in the key as I have discussed elsewhere in the forum.
I have done this kind of task before, so if someone wants direction on this they can contact me.
I have scanned Lydia Cerioni's 2 volume work in Italian, "La diplomazia..." and it is on my OneDrive. Lydia Cerioni studied the Tranchedino Cipher ledger and ciphers in the Milan State Archives and did what I am describing for those documents. So, I can share that with someone so that they can see what she did.
If you have any questions or need more details then please ask me.
Ultimately, if you think that the Voynich Manuscript might be written in cipher then there is good reason for you to be interested in cryptography from the time of the Voynich.
I myself would find the results of this research very interesting and quite useful. I also think the historical cryptography research community would find them interesting and useful. And this research could be done from your desk without the need to visit archives as I have photos of all the documents. I haven't done this research myself as it is not top priority in my research and I have many other avenues to research.
