Re: VMs: the labels are null character pair key pages for obscuring code

[Wayne Durden <wdurden@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Monday, April 25, 2005, at 11:50  AM, Elmar Vogt wrote:

> Wayne Durden wrote:
> > ...
> > 3)  To decode, one lays out the label folios, pulls up a text page 
> > and finds the link to a label folio by picture.  I.e. a bathing nymph 
> > page to a bathing nymph page with labels.  Using the labels one 
> > strikes out the pairs and syllables that appear in the labels and one 
> > is left with some remaining character or characters per line.
>
> Sorry, if I don't understand this correctly, but wouldn't this be an 
> awfully messy procedure? I mean, you have to disassemble the whole 
> book to read it?
>
> Cheers,


Well I think that is an interesting thought, but I am constrained in 
the degree I exactly understand that it is a "book" versus a collection 
of folios or folded quires and how label pages appear and whence they 
got that way.  For instance, I confess to not knowing whether the 
quires are purely folded or if there is some stitching?  I note that 
what appear in my copies what may be stitches fall over drawings 
suggesting that pages were stitched at some time after the drawing, by 
person or persons unknown.  There certainly appear to be stitching to 
repair tears on some folios but I don't know from my copies whether 
this is the case for folios in general.  The reference to them as 
quires suggested that they may simply be folded without stitching.  I 
can't say whether this is the case never having seen originals (there 
may be no stitching in fact at all but is an artifact of the 
reproduction), but there are clearly cases where folds occur over 
drawings but the ink doesn't flow with the fold strongly indicating the 
fold occurred after the fact and that the scribe wasn't working in a 
bound "book" form at the time of making.

If coincidentally, the label pages were often foldouts for easy 
reference I think this might strengthen the argument for this method of 
decoding.  In fact for someone that understands the exact physical 
juxtaposition of the folios this might be significant.  I have seen 
enough suggestions of alternate ordering than as now presented to think 
that the ordering as a "book" might be entirely a historical 
happenstance and not presented or originally transmitted in that 
fashion...  It may be a collection of multiple transmisions between 
coder and decoder explaining the different sections for instance.  
Unfortunately, here as elsewhere, with VMS possibilities of ideas 
multiply faster than rabbits.

However even if we presume the whole is presented to a decoder as a 
bound volume how hard is it really to knock out nulls in this fashion 
(for instance print out some folios on your printer and staple) and it 
doesn't seem too burdensome to flip back and forth to refer to a label 
page at one point to decode a text page elsewhere flipping back and 
forth.  One identifies the page pairing, notes the first digraph to 
knock out, goes to the text page and scans throughout knocking it out.  
The fact is that because this is a cumulative process and the 
manuscript is not marked out, if it contained a cipher and it was ever 
decoded in this manner, a copy of the folio was made first and the 
knockouts were made serially on the copy.  It seems hardly more effort 
than referring to an index in a separate dictionary.  In fact, ANY 
method of encoding whether numeric, nulls in the digraphs, etc., WHERE 
the KEY is in the manuscript (and there are historical examples of 
these) is subject to this very same concern relating to the binding.

All in all, this seems a remarkably easy and relatively effortless 
method of both encoding and decoding nulls into a text compared to 
other known historical examples.  Somewhat facetiously and using an 
inappropriate reference to Occam's Razor (the ultimate trump) I would 
suggest if this was a coded message between parties, this method does 
not require prior transmission of a code dictionary, prior transmission 
or two copies of an identical Grill or alphabet wheel, etc.  All of the 
encoding decoding keys are self-contained.  Ergo ipso facto per Occam 
this MUST be the very method used!  :)

There are of course missing folios as well which might result from 
removing from a bound volume for easier reference.  Again, 
possibilities multiply like rabbits.  Fortunately it's easy enough for 
folks intrigued to do a set and see what they get.

Cheers,

Wayne

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