5 THINGS ABOUT THE ANCIENT VOYNICH PAPERS

1 BIZARRE

Within the manuscript’s 240 pages are vibrant sketches, including more than 100 unknown plant species, mysterious astral charts and drawings of nude women. The swirls of script are inscrutable. Yale University calls it a scientific or magical text, circa 1401 to 1599, and believes the script is a cipher based on Roman letters.

2 INCOMPREHENSIBLE

Written in a language that has never been cracked — even William F. Friedman, whose codebreaking skills during the world wars became the stuff of legend, tried and failed — a few experts have dismissed it as a hoax. Carbon dating indicates the pages date to the early 15th century. The drawing style also reflects the times, when the late Middle Ages became the Renaissance. 3 DANGEROUS Those familiar with the manuscript say it should come with a warning. “The Voynich Manuscript has led some of the smartest people down rabbit holes for centuries,” Folger Shakespeare Library exhibit curator Bill Sherman said in 2014.

4 A BRIEF HISTORY

The manuscript bears the name of Wilfrid Voynich, the Polish dealer who purchased it in 1912. In the 16th century, Emperor Rudolph II of Germany bought it for about 600 gold ducats, in all likelihood from John Dee, an English astrologer. It eventually made its way to Yale University.

5 REVEALED AT LAST

A small Spanish publisher, Siloe, has obtained the rights to, in essence, clone the document, down to the holes in the parchment and tears on the pages. Siloe will make 898 of these replicas, at a cost of about US$8,000 a pop. About 300 Voynich clones have been purchased.