The Voynich Manuscript

It's not very often I write anything about the shop these days. I volunteer on Sundays and it's mostly uneventful. However, a few weeks back I spotted a book on the mysterious Voynich Manuscript.

The manuscript purports to be an illustrated book written in medieval times in an encrypted or invented language that no one can decipher. The book details the history of the Manuscipt to date and describes how codes and cyphers work, as they apply to the Manuscript. It looks a good book and it had been priced at £15, which I thought was a little steep.

Last week, the i newspaper (the cut-down version of the Independent) had an article on the Manuscript saying that a Spanish publisher had been given access to the original document with a view to making folio copies for sale at £6K a pop. Nice work if you can get it. I showed it to Mark and had a quick look at the book, which was still on the shelf. Someone had reduced the price to £10, which I think was reasonable, so I snapped it up.

Mark commented that he'd discussed it with Howard, who I've had odd dealings with in the past, but no conversations as such. Mark said that the conversation descended to the point where Howard claimed that he'd been abducted by aliens "near Norwich". Obviously, that's because it's a lot flatter country around there for them to land.