"Named for Polish-Lithuanian-American book dealer, what 15th century book whose script, language and illustrations continue to baffle experts has been called ""the world's most mysterious manuscript""?"
"symphony inspired by the manuscript. Voynich manuscript The Voynich manuscript is an illustrated codex hand-written in an unknown writing system. The vellum on which it is written has been carbon-dated to the early 15th century (1404–1438), and it may have been composed in Northern Italy during the Italian Renaissance. The manuscript is named after Wilfrid Voynich, a Polish-Samogitian book dealer who purchased it in 1912. Some of the pages are missing, with around 240 remaining. The text is written from left to right, and most of the pages have illustrations or diagrams. Some pages are foldable sheets. The Voynich manuscript"
"a mysterious manuscript he said he acquired in 1912 at the Villa Mondragone in Italy, but first presented in public in 1915. The book has been carbon dated, and that revealed that it was written somewhere between 1404 and 1438. He owned the manuscript until his death. Wilfrid Voynich Wilfrid Voynich, born Michał Habdank-Wojnicz (Telsze, Samogitia, Lithuania, – New York, 19 March 1930), was a Polish revolutionary, antiquarian and bibliophile. Voynich operated one of the largest rare book businesses in the world, but he is best remembered as the eponym of the Voynich manuscript. Michał Habdank-Wojnicz was born in Telsze,"
"the most bizarre art thefts in history, that of a panel of Jan van Eyck's Ghent Altarpiece. The book was published in various countries and languages, among which German, French, Polish (""Tajemnica Oltarza Gandawskiego""), Turkish and English (""The secret of the sacred panel""). Subsequent books were specifically aimed at the Dutch market and not translated into other languages; but in 2012 Hammer published a controversial book, ""The hunt for the Nazi Gold, secrets of the March Impromptu Code revealed"". It describes an investigation into a document, drafted at the end of World War II by Martin Bormann, that allegedly contained"
"the untitled 18th century manuscript in the shape of a triangle. The two known copies of the Triangular Manuscript exist as Hogart Manuscript 209 and 210 (MS 209 and MS 210). Both currently reside in the Manly Palmer Hall Collection of Alchemical Manuscripts at the Getty Research Library. Nick Koss decoded and translated this manuscript in 2011 and it was published as The Triangular Book of St. Germain by Ouroboros Press in 2015. Unlike the first work, it mentions St. Germain directly as its originator. The book describes a magical ritual by which one can perform the two most extraordinary"
"to some theories. Finally, a feature of the texts is common allusions to the city of Laodicea, without any direct references to any events there. Zaliznyak believes that Laodicea was a sort of a secret word among the Bogomils, which identified a Bogomil teaching to other believers, without making anything apparent to outsiders. In this context, the strange title of a schismatic work written 500 years later by a heretic Fedor Kuritzyn, ""The Message of Laodicea"", takes on a new light. The following concealed texts, among others, have been found so far: The great number of so far unknown texts"
"were made, and several hundred still survive (over 350 in Latin alone), often in translations into different vernacular languages; at least four different translations into French were made, and at least two into English. There were also translations into German, Dutch, and Czech. Manuscript versions covered the whole range of the manuscript market: some are lavishly and expensively decorated, for a de luxe market, whilst in many the illustrations are simple, and without colour. In particular, superb Flemish editions were produced in the 15th century for Philip the Good and other wealthy bibliophiles. The ""Speculum"" is probably the most popular"
"speculate that Mikołaj Rej has re-written the original text for print. One of the unique features of the work is its use of humour. The dialog mocks monks and priests, inn-keepers, fat women, dishonest physicians and unjust judges. The original version of the dialogue has been lost; what remains is an incomplete copy from ca. 1463-1465, belonging to Mikołaj of Mirzyniec (Mikołaj z Mirzyńca). The ending of the work was known due to its 16th century Russian translation. It has 498 lines, and presents everyday life scenes of members of different social classes of 15th century Poland. An unknown printed"
"extant in the original, but instead survives in three different manuscripts representing two different traditions. The Codex Zamoyscianus (Z) and Codex Czartoryscianus (S) represent the first, and earliest documented tradition, the latter being derived from the former. The Heilsberg codex, though later and surviving in less detail, is an independent witness to the text and constitutes the second distinct tradition. The earliest version lies in the manuscript known as the ""Codex Zamoyscianus"" or ""Zamoyski Codex"". This was written down in the late 14th-century, probably in Kraków between 1380 and 1392. It was located in the library of the Łaski family"
"Rohonc Codex The Rohonc Codex () is an illustrated manuscript book by an unknown author, with a text in an unknown language and writing system, that surfaced in Hungary in the early 19th century. The book's origin and the meaning of the text and illustrations have been investigated by many scholars and amateurs, with no definitive conclusion, although many Hungarian scholars believe that it is an 18th-century hoax. The name of the codex is often spelled ""Rohonczi"", according to the old Hungarian orthography that was reformed in the first half of the 19th century. This spelling has spread probably due"
"to a female member of the House of Anjou (wife or daughter of Louis I of Hungary), or it was made for Jadwiga of Poland. Its creator is also unknown, and even its place of origin is uncertain, with scholars seeing either Bohemia (Kłodzko) or Lesser Poland (Kraków) (or both) as the likely regions of origin. The text contains several examples of central Lesser Polish dialect, and some scholars suggested that the work might have been carried out or at least influenced by bishop Piotr Wysz. Polish historian of literature, Julian Krzyżanowski, suggested that the text is a copy of"
"their work. ""In chronological order"" Rohonc Codex The Rohonc Codex () is an illustrated manuscript book by an unknown author, with a text in an unknown language and writing system, that surfaced in Hungary in the early 19th century. The book's origin and the meaning of the text and illustrations have been investigated by many scholars and amateurs, with no definitive conclusion, although many Hungarian scholars believe that it is an 18th-century hoax. The name of the codex is often spelled ""Rohonczi"", according to the old Hungarian orthography that was reformed in the first half of the 19th century. This"
"because it was not understandable to the Polish bookbinder, it was chopped and used to bind a Latin book. The other important book from the time is the Codex Jókay; a 15th-century copy of an original from 1372. The codex is about the life of Francis of Assisi. In the early 15th century, some non-comprehensive Latin-Hungarian dictionaries, or rather word lists, were composed. Some shorter texts are also known. The most important work is however the first translation of the Bible: the Hussite Bible, dated to 1430. The Bible was translated by priests Tamás Pécsi and Bálint Ujlaki. They were"
"15th century many illustrated copies of Book I, as well as some copies of Books II and III, were produced by the Parisian booktrade. Nearly half of these surviving copies can be linked to a particular ""libraire"", called Pierre de Liffol. Several artistic hands can be detected in these copies, but two anonymous miniature painters seem to stand out as regular collaborators in Liffol's production: the Boethius Master and the . There was something of a revival in interest from about 1470 in the Burgundian Low Countries, and some of the most extensive cycles of Flemish illumination were produced to"
"and was not the author of the book. Stryjkowski protested before the Polish king and his claims were recognized in 1580, but the book continued to be printed under Guagnini's name and was translated into Polish. An expanded edition appeared in 1611. The chronicle included portraits of Lithuanian dukes for the first time. Despite the images being purely fictional and having nothing to do with actual dukes, anachronistic clothes and weapons, and that some of the images illustrated multiple people, the portraits highly influenced future depictions of the grand dukes of Lithuania. To this day they remain the most popular"
"by text in three scripts and five languages: Latin, Persian, Arabic, Judeo-Persian, and Hebrew. Originally, the bible contained only miniatures, organized in a consistent visual rhythm from page to page. Within 100 years, the book acquired marginal inscriptions in Latin describing the scenes illustrated. Cardinal Bernard Maciejowski, Bishop of Kraków, had the book given as a gift to Abbas I (Shah of Persia) in 1608. Abbas ordered inscriptions in Persian to be added, mostly translating the Latin ones already there. Later, in the eighteenth century, inscriptions were added in Judeo-Persian. The book has traditionally been thought to have been created"
"About the Mystery of the Letters About the Mystery of the Letters (, ""Peri tou mystēriou tōn grammatōn"") is an anonymous Christian treatise containing a mystical doctrine about the names and forms of the Greek and Hebrew letters. It was probably written in the 6th century Byzantine Palaestina Prima. The text is known from three Greek manuscript copies written between the 14th and 16th centuries, and one Coptic–Arabic bilingual translation from the late 14th century. The first modern edition of the Coptic text was published in 1900/1901. The Greek text was first described in 1931, but published for the first"
"The Triangular Book of St. Germain The Triangular Book of St. Germain or The Triangular Manuscript is an untitled 18th century French text written in code and attributed to the legendary Count of St. Germain. It takes its name from its physical shape: the binding and sheets of vellum that comprise the manuscript are in the shape of an equilateral triangle. The text, once deciphered, details a magical operation through which a person can perform some of the most exemplary feats of magic: the discovery of treasure and extension of life. The manuscript begins with a short Latin inscription mentioning"
"to modern day in intact form. Sankt Florian Psalter The Sankt Florian Psalter or Saint Florian Psalter ( or , or , or ) is a brightly illuminated trilingual manuscript psalter, written between late 14th and early 15th centuries in Latin, Polish and German. The Polish text is the oldest known translation of the Book of Psalms into that language. Its author, first owners, and place of origin are still not certain. It was named after St. Florian Monastery in Sankt Florian, a town in Austria, where it was discovered. It is not known exactly who was original owner of"
"The Mystery of the Sardine The Mystery of the Sardine is a novel by Polish-English writer Stefan Themerson. Initially the novel was called ""Euclid was an Ass"", named thusly for a tract written on Euclidean geometry by one of the characters. The manuscript came to the attention of the Dutch publisher De Harmonie, which had taken over Themerson's own Gaberbocchus Press, through which he had published his and his wife Franciszka's work, on a small scale. In 1985 a Dutch translation by Carol Limonard was published by De Bezige Bij. Through a Dutch-speaking person with connections to the English publisher"
"Sankt Florian Psalter The Sankt Florian Psalter or Saint Florian Psalter ( or , or , or ) is a brightly illuminated trilingual manuscript psalter, written between late 14th and early 15th centuries in Latin, Polish and German. The Polish text is the oldest known translation of the Book of Psalms into that language. Its author, first owners, and place of origin are still not certain. It was named after St. Florian Monastery in Sankt Florian, a town in Austria, where it was discovered. It is not known exactly who was original owner of the book. Most likely it belonged"
"in triangular form, the author may have intended to emphasize the book's spiritual nature. The Triangular Book of St. Germain The Triangular Book of St. Germain or The Triangular Manuscript is an untitled 18th century French text written in code and attributed to the legendary Count of St. Germain. It takes its name from its physical shape: the binding and sheets of vellum that comprise the manuscript are in the shape of an equilateral triangle. The text, once deciphered, details a magical operation through which a person can perform some of the most exemplary feats of magic: the discovery of"
"professional and amateur cryptographers, including American and British codebreakers from both World War I and World War II. No one has yet demonstrably deciphered the text, and it has become a famous case in the history of cryptography. The mystery of the meaning and origin of the manuscript has excited the popular imagination, making the manuscript the subject of novels and speculation. None of the many hypotheses proposed over the last hundred years has yet been independently verified. In 1969, the Voynich manuscript was donated by Hans P. Kraus to Yale University's Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, where it"
"maintain and it is believed that Petkevičius sold it to brothers Sultzeris. Petkevičius died in Vilnius in early 1608 when the Lithuanian Tribunal was in session. The catechism is titled in Polish (""Polski z litewskim katechism"") and is a truncated version of the Polish catechism most likely prepared by Stanisław Sudrowski and printed in Vilnius in 1595 (its title page is missing which makes it hard to determine its author or date of publication). In turn, Sudrowski's work drew from the Polish catechism sponsored by Mikołaj ""the Black"" Radziwiłł and printed in Nesvizh in 1563. Petkevičius' catechism was expanded and"
"world’s most powerful—now missing—artifact: the Book of Enoch, the chronicle of God’s mistakes, within whose pages lie the seeds for the end of everything. Peopled with the twentieth century’s most famous—and infamous—figures, the stakes go beyond the realm of humankind—into the divine. Duvall was a mage and a mystic, an explorer and collector of all things occult, and leader of the Arcanum. Also an advisor to presidents and czars. He kept many secrets, one of which, The Book of Enoch, the third part of the Bible that was thought to be erased from existence in the first century, was stolen"
"600 colour illustrations. Among East Slavic chronicles, the ""Radziwiłł"" is distinguished for the richness and quantity of its illustrations, which may derive from the 13th-century original. The chronicle includes the ""Tale of Bygone Years"" and extends it with yearly entries until 1206. Radziwiłł Chronicle The Radziwiłł Chronicle (or Königsberg Chronicle) is one of the Old East Slavic illuminated manuscript held by the Library of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Saint Petersburg. It is a 15th-century copy of a 13th-century original. Its name is derived from the Princes Radziwiłł of Grand Duchy of Lithuania (later, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth), who kept"
"At the center of the exhibition is a multi-layered narrative surrounding a peculiar, fictional book titled ""The Almanac"": an unpublished, nineteenth-century manuscript written by the imaginary Swiss author Fredrick Otto Bühler, and recently discovered in the home of his last living descendant. Narrated by an artist character named Alexis—based on Gideon himself—the story presents the dilemma of the protagonist’s impossible recollection of the book’s events. He somehow remembers having read these stories during his childhood in New York City. To test whether he had indeed encountered this mysterious text, the character Alexis writes and illustrates a narrative based on one"
"of money to print their work (rendered ""Manutius"" in the English translation, a reference to the 15th century printer Aldus Manutius). Mr. Garamond soon has the idea to begin two lines of occult books: one intended for serious publication by Garamond; the other, ""Isis Unveiled"" (a reference to the theosophical text by Blavatsky), to be published by Manutius in order to attract more vanity authors. Belbo, Diotallevi and Casaubon quickly become submerged in occult manuscripts that draw all sorts of flimsy connections between historical events. They nickname the authors the ""Diabolicals"", and engage Agliè as a specialist reader. The three"
"is today kept at the Biblioteca Laurenziana, Plut. 69,27). By the end of the 15th century, the text became immensely popular among humanists, with a first printed edition of the text appearing in 1505, translated into Latin in 1517 by Filippo Fasanini, initiating a long sequence of editions and translations. From the 18th century, the book's authenticity was called into question, but modern Egyptology regards at least the first book as based on real knowledge of hieroglyphs, although confused, and with baroque symbolism and theological speculation, and the book may well originate with the latest remnants of Egyptian priesthood of"
"in 1501. Later editions contained woodcuts by the well-known engravers Hans Springinklee and Erhard Schön, with beautiful miniatures in some existing manuscript examples, like the one at Vienna (Cod. Bibl. Pal. Vindobonensis. 2706, 1907), which has been reproduced as facsimile by Friedrich Dornhöffer. ""Hortulus Animae polonice"", a Polish version written by Biernat of Lublin, printed and published in 1513 by Florian Ungler in Kraków, was believed to be the first book printed in the Polish language (it is the second). The last known copy was lost during World War II. The work is mentioned briefly at the end of Edgar"
"Gospel of Matthew, then the other Evangelists, and in 1553 the complete New Testament. In these translations, Seklucjan collaborated with and relied on Stanisław Murzynowski, and it is likely that most of the translation work was done by Murzynowski, with Seklucjan merely taking the credit. Additionally, the translation of the New Testament into Polish was delayed by a dispute between Seklucjan and another Polish translator, Jan Sandecki-Malecki. While the origins of the dispute concerned the usefulness of the Czech language as an aid in translating the New Catechism (with Sandecki-Malecki extolling the usefulness of Czech and Seklucjan insisting on purely"
"Archidoxis magica The Archidoxis magica (""The Archidoxes of Magic"") is a pseudo-Paracelsian grimoire of the 16th century. The book discusses magical sigils for the use on talismans or amulets. It was first printed in 1591 as part of the tenth and final volume of the collected works of Paracelsus by Johannes Huser of Basel. Even at this time, the editor expressed doubts as to the text being a genuine work by Paracelsus. The work is the main reason for Paracelsus' reputation as a magician: While Paracelsus did publish works on astrology and divination, there is no reliable evidence that he"
"Radziwiłł Chronicle The Radziwiłł Chronicle (or Königsberg Chronicle) is one of the Old East Slavic illuminated manuscript held by the Library of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Saint Petersburg. It is a 15th-century copy of a 13th-century original. Its name is derived from the Princes Radziwiłł of Grand Duchy of Lithuania (later, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth), who kept it in their Nesvizh Castle in the 17th and 18th centuries. The work reveals the history of Kievan Rus' and its neighbors from the fifth to the early 13th century in pictorial form, representing events described in the manuscript with more than"
"version was released on 12 June 2015 while the Polish translated version was later released on 4 November 2015. In Serbia book was released on 15 July 2016. The English translated version was released on 10 December 2016. The novel ""Dusk"" was published in 2007. It is a dark tale of the translator Dmitry who gets the order for a dozen pages cut out of what seems to be a several centuries-old Spanish book. He discovers that the book is a journal of an expedition of the Conquistadors dating back to the 16th century. Dmitry is reading this story chapter"