Voynich manuscript  

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 +<!--Do NOT add an "in popular culture" section or a mention of the xkcd comic in which the manuscript appeared. There is a consensus not to include it, and inappropriate additions will be removed.-->
 +[[File:Voynich Manuscript (170).jpg|thumb|400px|The Voynich manuscript]]
 +The '''Voynich manuscript''' is a handwritten [[book]] thought to have been written in the early 15th century and comprising about 240 [[vellum]] pages,{{#tag:ref|The exact number of pages depends on how the fold-outs are counted.|group=notes}} most with illustrations. Although many possible authors have been proposed, the author, [[writing system|script]], and [[language]] remain unknown. It has been described as "the world's most mysterious manuscript".
-'''Asemic writing''' is a wordless open [[Semantics|semantic]] form of [[writing]]. The word ''asemic'' means "having no specific semantic content".+Generally presumed to be some kind of [[ciphertext]], the Voynich manuscript has been studied by many professional and amateur [[cryptographer]]s, including [[United States|American]] and [[United Kingdom|British]] [[cryptanalysis|codebreakers]] from both [[World War I]] and [[World War II]]. Yet it has defied all decipherment attempts, becoming a [[history of cryptography|historical cryptology]] ''[[cause célèbre]]''. The mystery surrounding it has excited the popular imagination, making the manuscript a subject of both fanciful theories and novels.
-Illegible, invented, or primal [[manuscript|script]]s ([[cave painting]]s, [[doodle]]s, [[children's drawings]], etc.) are all influences upon asemic writing. But instead of being thought of as mimicry of preliterate expression, asemic writing can be considered as a [[Postliterate society|postliterate]] style of writing that uses all forms of creativity for inspiration. +In 2009, [[University of Arizona]] researchers performed [[C14 dating]] on the manuscript's vellum, which they assert (with 95% confidence) was made between 1404 and 1438. In addition, the [[McCrone Research Institute]] in [[Chicago]] found that much of the ink was added not long afterwards, confirming that the manuscript is an authentic medieval document.
-Some asemic writing has [[pictogram]]s or [[ideogram]]s, which suggest a meaning through their shape. Other forms are shapeless and exist as pure conception.+The book is named after the Polish-Lithuanian-American book dealer [[Wilfrid M. Voynich]], who acquired it in 1912. The Voynich manuscript is owned by the [[Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library]] of [[Yale University]], and is formally referred to as "'''Beinecke MS 408'''". The first [[facsimile]] edition was published in 2005.
-Asemic writing has no verbal sense, though it may have clear textual sense. Through its formatting and structure, asemic writing may suggest a type of document and, thereby, suggest a meaning. The form of [[art]] is still writing, often [[calligraphic]] in form, and either depends on a reader's sense and knowledge of writing systems for it to make sense, or can be understood through aesthetic intuition. 
- 
-Asemic writing can also be seen as a relative perception, whereby unknown languages and forgotten scripts provide templates and platforms for new modes of expression.  
- 
-Asemic writing occurs in [[avant-garde]] literature and art with strong roots in the earliest forms of writing. 
== See also == == See also ==
- +* [[Artificial script]]
-*[[Apophenia]]+* [[Asemic writing]]
-*[[Artist's book]]+* [[Book of Soyga]]
-*[[Automatic writing]]+* [[Codex Seraphinianus]]
-*[[Dada]]+* [[European Voynich Alphabet]]
-*[[Experimental literature]]+* [[False document]]
-*[[Free writing]]+* [[False writing system]]
-*[[Glossolalia]]+* [[Fictional language]]
-*[[Haptic poetry]]+* [[Rohonc Codex]]
-*[[Lorem ipsum]]+* [[Rongorongo]]
-*[[Nonsense]]+
-*[[Postliterate society]]+
-*[[Visual poetry]]+
-*[[Voynich manuscript]]+
- +
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thumb|400px|The Voynich manuscript The Voynich manuscript is a handwritten book thought to have been written in the early 15th century and comprising about 240 vellum pages,{{#tag:ref|The exact number of pages depends on how the fold-outs are counted.|group=notes}} most with illustrations. Although many possible authors have been proposed, the author, script, and language remain unknown. It has been described as "the world's most mysterious manuscript".

Generally presumed to be some kind of ciphertext, the Voynich manuscript has been studied by many professional and amateur cryptographers, including American and British codebreakers from both World War I and World War II. Yet it has defied all decipherment attempts, becoming a historical cryptology cause célèbre. The mystery surrounding it has excited the popular imagination, making the manuscript a subject of both fanciful theories and novels.

In 2009, University of Arizona researchers performed C14 dating on the manuscript's vellum, which they assert (with 95% confidence) was made between 1404 and 1438. In addition, the McCrone Research Institute in Chicago found that much of the ink was added not long afterwards, confirming that the manuscript is an authentic medieval document.

The book is named after the Polish-Lithuanian-American book dealer Wilfrid M. Voynich, who acquired it in 1912. The Voynich manuscript is owned by the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library of Yale University, and is formally referred to as "Beinecke MS 408". The first facsimile edition was published in 2005.

See also




Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Voynich manuscript" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.

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