Monday, February 14, 2011

Voynich Manuscript

I have written before small, odd, confused articles on language (1, 2, 34) and other speculations associated, one of which being erasure of language. To speculate on possibility of losing the memory of sounds and symbols that make up words and how to arrange these together. Being able to imagine an alternative history where Rosetta stone was never discovered and we are left with only encoded unrecognisable vast archives that look exquisitely rich in their meaning but undecipherable,quite similar to the symbol of human infertility, where Zizek talks about Art in the absence of its context in Children of Men.
I can only imagine the feeling cryptographers, ciphers, linguists and historians get when they study The Beinecke MS 408 or also popularly known as the Voynich manuscripts presently housed in Yale University's Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library building (designed by SOM). A treasure trove of history, symbols and science locked up meaningless without its codec. Some images below for visual intrigue and pleasure.
(All images for this post have been borrowed from the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript online Archive, Yale University.)

1 comment:

  1. Do you want the truth that the so-called "Voynich experts" can never seem to deliver? Want to read the Voynich Manuscript for yourself in its original language - English?

    http://www.voynager.com

    or contact R. A. Rogers at editor@voynager.com.

    ReplyDelete