The Voynich Manuscript is an enigmatic document written in an unknown script and language. It was discovered in 1912 by Wilfrid Voynich, a Polish book dealer, and has been studied by cryptographers, historians, and linguists ever since. The manuscript consists of over
The Voynich manuscript is an illustrated codex, hand-written in an unknown script referred to as Voynichese. The vellum on which it is written has been carbon-dated to the early 15th century (1404–1438). Stylistic analysis has indicated the manuscript may have been composed in Italy during the Italian Renaissance. The origins, authorship, and purpose of the manuscript are still debated, but currently scholars lack the translation(s) and context needed to either properly entertain or eliminate any of the possibilities. Hypotheses range from a script for a natural language or constructed language, an unreadable code, cipher, or other form of cryptography, or perhaps a hoax, reference work, glossolalia, or work of fiction.