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	<title>Cipher Mysteries &#187; Alchemy</title>
	<atom:link href="http://www.ciphermysteries.com/category/historical-research/alchemy/feed" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
	<link>http://www.ciphermysteries.com</link>
	<description>The latest news, views, research and reviews on uncracked historical ciphers...</description>
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		<title>Announcing &#8220;The Blitz Ciphers&#8221;&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://www.ciphermysteries.com/2011/12/22/announcing-the-blitz-ciphers</link>
		<comments>http://www.ciphermysteries.com/2011/12/22/announcing-the-blitz-ciphers#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 22 Dec 2011 17:04:07 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>nickpelling</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Alchemy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Astrology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Blitz Ciphers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Glen Claston]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[John Dee]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Leon Battista Alberti]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.ciphermysteries.com/?p=4165</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A few weeks ago, some new ciphertexts pinged on my Cipher Mysteries radar: the story goes that they had been found just after WWII in wooden boxes concealed in the wall of an East London cellar that German bombing had exposed. Hence I&#8217;ve called them &#8220;The Blitz Ciphers&#8221;, but they&#8217;re probably much older than the [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[A few weeks ago, some new ciphertexts pinged on my Cipher Mysteries radar: the story goes that they had been found just after WWII in wooden boxes concealed in the wall of an East London cellar that German bombing had exposed. Hence I&#8217;ve called them &#8220;The Blitz Ciphers&#8221;, but they&#8217;re probably much older than the [...]]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.ciphermysteries.com/2011/12/22/announcing-the-blitz-ciphers/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>24</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Alchemy decoded, finally&#8230;?</title>
		<link>http://www.ciphermysteries.com/2011/12/22/alchemy-decoded-finally</link>
		<comments>http://www.ciphermysteries.com/2011/12/22/alchemy-decoded-finally#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 22 Dec 2011 01:58:37 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>nickpelling</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Alchemy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Eternal Flame]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.ciphermysteries.com/?p=4156</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Like many people, I&#8217;ve always vaguely wondered how the alchemical &#8216;code&#8217; worked: that is, how the abstruse (and indeed playfully indirect) language of alchemy mapped onto actual things and processes in the real world. Even though the early 20th century saw a succession of natural philosophers and historically-minded empirical physicists who attempted to decode the [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[
Like many people, I&#8217;ve always vaguely wondered how the alchemical &#8216;code&#8217; worked: that is, how the abstruse (and indeed playfully indirect) language of alchemy mapped onto actual things and processes in the real world. Even though the early 20th century saw a succession of natural philosophers and historically-minded empirical physicists who attempted to decode the [...]]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.ciphermysteries.com/2011/12/22/alchemy-decoded-finally/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>4</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>A Beautiful Infinity&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://www.ciphermysteries.com/2010/07/18/a-beautiful-infinity</link>
		<comments>http://www.ciphermysteries.com/2010/07/18/a-beautiful-infinity#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 18 Jul 2010 00:01:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>nickpelling</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Adam McLean]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alchemy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cipher Fiction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Georg Baresch]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Short Stories]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Treasure Maps]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Voynich Manuscript]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.ciphermysteries.com/?p=3218</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[There are colours in my eyes, history flickering and sputtering as a beautiful infinity reaches out to hold my bloodsoaked hand&#8230; * * * * * * The Brazilian girl&#8217;s plan is stone-cold in its vision, fractal in its detail, awesome in its thinking. Yes, the organizers have put the necessary overnight protection squad in place: [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[There are colours in my eyes, history flickering and sputtering as a beautiful infinity reaches out to hold my bloodsoaked hand&#8230;
* * * * * *
The Brazilian girl&#8217;s plan is stone-cold in its vision, fractal in its detail, awesome in its thinking. Yes, the organizers have put the necessary overnight protection squad in place: but the [...]]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.ciphermysteries.com/2010/07/18/a-beautiful-infinity/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>4</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Some online herbals&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://www.ciphermysteries.com/2010/01/09/some-online-herbals</link>
		<comments>http://www.ciphermysteries.com/2010/01/09/some-online-herbals#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 09 Jan 2010 15:50:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>nickpelling</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Alchemy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Apothecary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Herbals]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Voynich Manuscript]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.ciphermysteries.com/?p=2617</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Blogger of the visually bizarre BibliOdyssey has a number of nice online herbal scans you might well enjoy: each page has a brief description of the related manuscript and links to other places you can read more about the subject, while each picture links to its own Flickr page (which is handy). &#8216;Arzneipflanzenbuch&#8216; [BSB Cod.icon. 26], [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[Blogger of the visually bizarre BibliOdyssey has a number of nice online herbal scans you might well enjoy: each page has a brief description of the related manuscript and links to other places you can read more about the subject, while each picture links to its own Flickr page (which is handy).

&#8216;Arzneipflanzenbuch&#8216; [BSB Cod.icon. 26], Augsburg [...]]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.ciphermysteries.com/2010/01/09/some-online-herbals/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>7</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Antonio of Florence translation&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://www.ciphermysteries.com/2009/09/10/antonio-of-florence-translation</link>
		<comments>http://www.ciphermysteries.com/2009/09/10/antonio-of-florence-translation#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 10 Sep 2009 08:08:59 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>nickpelling</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Alchemy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Apothecary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jan Hurych]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prague]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Antonio of Florence]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.ciphermysteries.com/?p=2046</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Jan Hurych has very kindly emailed in a translation of the short piece of text I uncovered relating to the 14th century Prague apothecary Antonio of Florence. With a few minor style tweaks, here it is:- The restoration of gothic painting in the house U Lilie ["By Lilly"] no. 459/1, Malé náměstí ["The Little Square"] 11. [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[Jan Hurych has very kindly emailed in a translation of the short piece of text I uncovered relating to the 14th century Prague apothecary Antonio of Florence. With a few minor style tweaks, here it is:-
The restoration of gothic painting in the house U Lilie ["By Lilly"] no. 459/1, Malé náměstí ["The Little Square"] 11.
During the [...]]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.ciphermysteries.com/2009/09/10/antonio-of-florence-translation/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The secret history of &#8220;Antonio of Florence&#8221;&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://www.ciphermysteries.com/2009/09/08/the-secret-history-of-antonio-of-florence</link>
		<comments>http://www.ciphermysteries.com/2009/09/08/the-secret-history-of-antonio-of-florence#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 08 Sep 2009 18:25:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>nickpelling</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Alchemy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Antonio Averlino]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prague]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rafal Prinke]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rene Zandbergen]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Voynich Manuscript]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lazytown]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.ciphermysteries.com/?p=2022</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;ve just received (directly from the author, thanks!) a copy of Vladimír Karpenko&#8217;s admirably thorough 1990 AMBIX paper on the &#8220;cesta spravedlivá&#8221; pair of manuscripts. From his analysis, it seems very much as though these are both genuinely 15th century and (just as Rafal predicted) entirely unconnected with the VMs. Oh well! Even so, the secret history [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[I&#8217;ve just received (directly from the author, thanks!) a copy of Vladimír Karpenko&#8217;s admirably thorough 1990 AMBIX paper on the &#8220;cesta spravedlivá&#8221; pair of manuscripts. From his analysis, it seems very much as though these are both genuinely 15th century and (just as Rafal predicted) entirely unconnected with the VMs. Oh well!  
Even so, the secret history [...]]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.ciphermysteries.com/2009/09/08/the-secret-history-of-antonio-of-florence/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>5</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Chrysopoeia versus Mythopoeia&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://www.ciphermysteries.com/2009/09/03/chrysopoeia-versus-mythopoeia</link>
		<comments>http://www.ciphermysteries.com/2009/09/03/chrysopoeia-versus-mythopoeia#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 03 Sep 2009 08:54:22 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>nickpelling</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Alchemy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Voynich Manuscript]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tolkien]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.ciphermysteries.com/?p=2015</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Fingers on buzzers for a quicky historical quiz: name these three historical characters and the unusual link they share&#8230; A 13th century speculative English monk A 14th century Parisian bookseller (and his wife) A 15th century Bohemian disbeliever in alchemy How did you do? The first one&#8217;s easy, particularly for Voynich Manuscript devotees &#8211; it&#8217;s the [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[Fingers on buzzers for a quicky historical quiz: name these three historical characters and the unusual link they share&#8230;

A 13th century speculative English monk
A 14th century Parisian bookseller (and his wife)
A 15th century Bohemian disbeliever in alchemy

How did you do?
The first one&#8217;s easy, particularly for Voynich Manuscript devotees &#8211; it&#8217;s the Franciscan friar Roger Bacon. The [...]]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.ciphermysteries.com/2009/09/03/chrysopoeia-versus-mythopoeia/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Otakar Zachar&#8217;s (1899) &#8220;The True Path of Alchemy&#8221; book&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://www.ciphermysteries.com/2009/08/31/otakar-zachars-1899-the-true-path-of-alchemy-book</link>
		<comments>http://www.ciphermysteries.com/2009/08/31/otakar-zachars-1899-the-true-path-of-alchemy-book#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 31 Aug 2009 10:40:43 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>janhurych</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Alchemy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Antonio Averlino]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Holy Roman Empire]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jan Hurych]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prague]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Voynich Manuscript]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.ciphermysteries.com/?p=1995</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Today&#8217;s Cipher Mysteries post comes from long-time Voynich researcher Jan Hurych, who very kindly agreed to go through Otakar Zachar&#8217;s (1899) monograph on the &#8220;Cesta spravedliva v alchymii&#8221; (&#8220;The True Path of Alchemy&#8221;) manuscript by Antonio of Florence dated 1457. Here&#8217;s what Jan found&#8230; * * * * * * * While Otakar Zachar&#8217;s name is now [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[Today&#8217;s Cipher Mysteries post comes from long-time Voynich researcher Jan Hurych, who very kindly agreed to go through Otakar Zachar&#8217;s (1899) monograph on the &#8220;Cesta spravedliva v alchymii&#8221; (&#8220;The True Path of Alchemy&#8221;) manuscript by Antonio of Florence dated 1457. Here&#8217;s what Jan found&#8230;
* * * * * * *
While Otakar Zachar&#8217;s name is now generally unknown, [...]]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.ciphermysteries.com/2009/08/31/otakar-zachars-1899-the-true-path-of-alchemy-book/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>&#8220;The True Path of Alchemy&#8221; is *not* the VMs&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://www.ciphermysteries.com/2009/08/30/the-true-path-of-alchemy-is-not-the-vms</link>
		<comments>http://www.ciphermysteries.com/2009/08/30/the-true-path-of-alchemy-is-not-the-vms#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 30 Aug 2009 11:37:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>nickpelling</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Alchemy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Antonio Averlino]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Historical Research]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jan Hurych]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marginalia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Philip Neal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prague]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rafal Prinke]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rene Zandbergen]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rudolf II]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Voynich Manuscript]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Otakar Zachar]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.ciphermysteries.com/?p=1987</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A big tip of the hat to Rafal Prinke: thanks to a swift reply from him last night, I can now say definitively that &#8220;The True Path of Alchemy&#8221; is not the VMs (confirming Rene&#8217;s suspicion), because both still exist independently. And the romanticized 1904 mention of the former by Henry Carrington Bolton that quickened my historical pulse [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[A big tip of the hat to Rafal Prinke: thanks to a swift reply from him last night, I can now say definitively that &#8220;The True Path of Alchemy&#8221; is not the VMs (confirming Rene&#8217;s suspicion), because both still exist independently. And the romanticized 1904 mention of the former by Henry Carrington Bolton that quickened my historical pulse [...]]]></content:encoded>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Earliest archival reference to the Voynich Manuscript&#8230;???</title>
		<link>http://www.ciphermysteries.com/2009/08/29/earliest-archival-reference-to-the-voynich-manuscript</link>
		<comments>http://www.ciphermysteries.com/2009/08/29/earliest-archival-reference-to-the-voynich-manuscript#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 29 Aug 2009 12:42:56 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>nickpelling</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Alchemy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Antonio Averlino]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Holy Roman Empire]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jacobus de Tepenecz]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Johannes Marcus Marci]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[John Dee]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prague]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rafal Prinke]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rudolf II]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Voynich Manuscript]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Henry Carrington Bolton]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.ciphermysteries.com/?p=1971</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A vast constellation of curious books revolves around the hazily uncertain core of the Voynich Manuscript: as with most things, some are outright good, some are just plain bad, while most live in a mixed-up zone in the middle. Henry Carrington Bolton&#8217;s (1904) &#8221; The Follies of Science at the Court of Rudolph II&#8221; is a poster-child for that mixed-up [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[A vast constellation of curious books revolves around the hazily uncertain core of the Voynich Manuscript: as with most things, some are outright good, some are just plain bad, while most live in a mixed-up zone in the middle.
Henry Carrington Bolton&#8217;s (1904) &#8221; The Follies of Science at the Court of Rudolph II&#8221; is a poster-child for that mixed-up zone [...]]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.ciphermysteries.com/2009/08/29/earliest-archival-reference-to-the-voynich-manuscript/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>6</slash:comments>
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