I thought I’d just give a gentle Cipher Mysteries tap to all your virtual elbows: that there’s a Voynich pub meet this evening (i.e. Sunday 28th September 2014 from 7pm onwards) in a splendidly historic London tavern, and that it would be great to see all or any of you there. As always, if you have a particular interest in one or more other historical ciphers (i.e. not just the Voynich Manuscritp), you’re more than welcome too.
Oh, and if you are planning to come along, please free to say hello beforehand via a comment here or an email, particularly if there’s any cipher-related book from my overstuffed bookshelves that you’d like to borrow.
Alas, I can’t promise that Rupert Allason will turn up with a copy of Arnold Deutsch’s fingerprints in his hand and that we’ll all be drinking champagne to toast the newly-identified Somerton Man (now wouldn’t that be good). But cheers and hope to see you there all the same! 😉
From here to there, I`d be a day late & a dollar ( pound? ) short..
But ~ChEeRs Sir Nick !!! (don`t they have Scotch&Water) LoL 🙂
Well done!
-/se\-
Nick, you already know how very much I would like to join you and some of the ‘gang’. Not possible for me, unless I were able to flag down a ‘slow boat’ to England’. It is not seasickness which would deter me but rather altitude. So, lift a mug (or a shot of scotch) and render a toast to the gentleman who unearthed the manuscript and set it asea to wash up on the shores of the internet!
bd-id-1-der
Did you meet up with any of my long lost relatives? Did they leave something for me, like a cryptic note?
Nick, this is the most current page to which I think I can contribute another identification and translation of a voynich page illustration. In particular, I will be going back to Fr. Sahagun’s manuscript to see if he discusses anywhere a South American root vegetable which leaves and stems were also edible, but NOT the seeds: jicama (pronounced hee-ka-ma). Historically it has been described and given nomenclature as a potato, or sweet potato, or yam….
Jicama has a long history in South America.
Current day nomenclature for the jicama plant (at least what I was able to glean from only one of my botanical encyclopedias) is: PACHYRIZUS erosus, Fabaceae Leguminosa
I’m hoping you may be able to give the folks at the Folger and Shakespeare libraries some positive feedback to add to their upcoming exhibit (which seems to be displaying a whole lot of good stuff about Mr. Friedman’s efforts). I’m also hoping they will eventually catch up with the Brig’s efforts (of which several ‘Voynich’ items appear on the WWW as DOCID numbered documents, but unsuccessfully decoded by Brigadier General Tiltman).
I am very excited about the upcoming ‘showing’ which apparently is a cooperative effort between ReneZ, PaulaZ, and the folks at the Folger. I am only able to catch glimpses of the show but I do appreciate their identification of the various supporters/contributors to the Yale libraries’ upcoming display.
bd
I think it’s time that someone created the ‘Voynich trivia quiz’. If you don’t know the answer, you have to drink, and if you don’t agree with the answer, two shots.
What do you think, Nick?
Diane: shoundsh fun.
😀