THE VOYNICH MANUSCRIPT
MS-408: A Forgery in Plain Sight
Astronomical, Cryptographic, and Structural Evidence That Wilfrid Michael Voynich
Forged MS-408 Using Authentic 15th-Century Vellum
Independent Research Paper
2025
Submitted for Peer Review and Scholarly Discussion
Abstract
This paper presents a comprehensive forensic hypothesis that the Voynich Manuscript (Beinecke MS-408, Yale University Library) is a sophisticated forgery created by rare book dealer Wilfrid Michael Voynich (1865-1930) using authentic 15th-century vellum sourced through his antiquarian trade network. Four independent and converging lines of evidence are presented: (1) a novel cryptographic system — the Voynich Glossolalia — that decodes EVA script to Medieval Latin via frequency rank substitution, yielding the mathematically coherent string OCTOESOIC on folio 57v; (2) the identification of eight equidistant degree-marker glyphs at 45-degree intervals on the outer ring of folio 57v, consistent with medieval 8-point navigational and astronomical conventions; (3) the astronomical verification via Stellarium Web (Tuscany, Julian calendar) that on 1006-10-30 at 19:31:51 UT a new moon occurred at 0% phase simultaneously with the Lupus constellation — home of Supernova 1006 — positioned below the horizon at the 4 o'clock position; and (4) the identification of the word IPUINOVEMB on folio 68v2, containing the unambiguous Latin month abbreviation NOVEMB, placed precisely at the Lupus position in the folio's star diagram. Together these findings constitute a prima facie case for a deliberate multi-century cipher architecture encoding real historical astronomical events, created by a forger with the unique linguistic, material, and scholarly means to execute such a deception.
1. Introduction
The Voynich Manuscript has resisted scholarly decipherment since its public introduction by Wilfrid Voynich in 1915. Carbon dating of the vellum places its manufacture between 1404 and 1438 CE. However, carbon dating establishes only the age of the writing material — not the date of inscription. This paper argues that the manuscript was inscribed on authentic 15th-century vellum by Wilfrid Voynich himself in the late 19th or early 20th century, encoding a multi-layered cipher drawing from 11th, 15th, and 16th century linguistic and astronomical sources to confound dating and attribution.
The convergence of three independently verifiable discoveries — a decoded cipher word on folio 57v encoding the geometry of a circular food divided into eight portions; eight 45-degree structural markers forming a complete compass rose on the same folio; and a confirmed astronomical date stamp embedded in folio 68v2 corresponding to the final fading of Supernova 1006 — provides the first internally consistent, multi-folio, mathematically and astronomically verifiable framework for understanding MS-408 as a constructed artifact.
2. Wilfrid Michael Voynich: Means, Motive, Opportunity
2.1 Biographical Profile
Wilfrid Michael Voynich (born Michal Wojnicz, 1865, Lithuania; died 1930, New York) was a Polish revolutionary, antiquarian bookseller, and manuscript dealer of exceptional learning. He was fluent in eighteen languages, operated one of Europe's most significant rare manuscript dealerships, and had unparalleled access to genuine medieval materials through his extensive network of Jesuit and private collections across Italy and central Europe.
Factor
Detail
Relevance to Forgery
Linguistic ability
Fluent in 18 languages
Could construct plausible medieval Latin cipher
Material access
Dealer in 11th-13th century manuscripts
Access to authentic blank period vellum
Discovery account
Account of finding changed over time
Suggests constructed narrative
FBI investigation
Investigated 1917 re: manuscript
Official suspicion documented
Financial motive
Manuscript made him world-famous
Strong incentive to create sensation
Posthumous confirmation
Wife Ethel's letter opened after death
Provenance rested on his own account
2.2 The Vellum Solution
The primary objection to any forgery hypothesis is the carbon dating of the vellum to 1404-1438 CE. This objection is resolved as follows: as a dealer in manuscripts from the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries — documented in the 1917 FBI investigation report — Voynich had routine access to genuine blank medieval vellum in the form of endpapers, flyleaves, and pages from damaged manuscripts of the period. Inscribing text on authentic 500-year-old vellum with period-correct iron gall ink would produce precisely the scientific authentication results observed. This method was not unprecedented — historical forgers including Konrad Kujau used authentic period materials to defeat material-based dating. Voynich, with his unparalleled access and expertise, was uniquely positioned to execute this at scale.
2.3 The Multi-Century Cipher Architecture
The hypothesis proposes that Voynich constructed MS-408 drawing deliberately from three historical periods to maximally confuse authentication:
Century
Source Material
Function in Cipher
11th Century
Medieval Latin morphology, astronomical observations (SN 1006)
Provides authentic historical astronomical anchor dates
15th Century
Script style, vellum, illumination conventions
Matches carbon-dated material layer
16th Century
Trigonometric degree notation, 8-point navigational systems
Encodes the geometric mathematical layer
3. Folio 57v: The Cipher Wheel and the Pizza Theorem
Figure 1: Folio 57v of the Voynich Manuscript showing the concentric ring structure with highlighted 45-degree marker glyphs at 12, 1:30, 3, 4:30, 6, 7:30, 9, and 10:30 clock positions.
3.1 The Voynich Glossolalia Cipher System
The cipher system developed in this research maps EVA (European Voynich Alphabet) characters to Medieval Latin letters through frequency rank substitution — matching each EVA character by its frequency rank to the Medieval Latin letter of equivalent frequency rank. This is a classical and academically recognised cryptanalytic approach.
EVA Character
EVA Frequency
Rank
Medieval Latin Letter
Special Value
o
17%
1
I (11.44%)
—
a
10%
2
E (11.38%)
—
ch
9%
3
A (8.89%)
—
e
9%
4
U (8.46%)
—
y
8%
5
T (7.60%)
T = NOVEM (9)
i
7%
6
S (7.60%)
—
n
6%
7
R (6.67%)
—
d
6%
8
N (5.40%)
N = OCTO (8)
r
5%
9
O (5.38%)
—
sh
5%
10
M (5.38%)
—
l
4%
11
C (3.99%)
C = 100 (Roman)
k/ckh
3%
12
L (3.15%)
—
t/cth
3%
13
P (3.03%)
—
q
3%
14
D (3.03%)
D = QUATTUOR (4)
Key innovation: certain frequency-ranked Latin outputs are treated as numerical stand-ins. Rank 8 (N) maps to OCTO (Latin: 8), Rank 5 (T) maps to NOVEM (Latin: 9), and Rank 14 (D) maps to QUATTUOR (Latin: 4). This creates a secondary numerical decoding layer embedded within the primary frequency substitution system.
3.2 OCTOESOIC: The Decoded Word
The EVA sequence 'dairol' appears on the outer ring of folio 57v at approximately the 10 o'clock position. Applying the Voynich Glossolalia frequency substitution system yields the decoded string: OCTOESOIC.
Component
Value
System
Meaning
OCTO
8
Latin
Eight
ESO
eat / consume
Medieval Latin
To eat, to consume (verified)
I
1
Roman Numeral
One
C
100
Roman Numeral
One Hundred
The decoded components yield the formula: 8 x Pi x 1 x 100 = 800Pi approximately 2,513.27. This formula describes the circumference of a circular food object divided into exactly 8 equal slices, each subtending 45 degrees (360 / 8 = 45). The word OCTOESOIC encodes: a circular food to be eaten, cut into eight equal portions — the geometry of a pizza or circular bread.
"The author encoded practical human nutrition — a shared circular meal — into a mathematical cipher disguised as astronomical cosmology."
3.3 The Eight 45-Degree Markers
Independent visual analysis of folio 57v's outer ring reveals eight small rounded glyph-markers positioned at equidistant intervals around the circumference. When the folio is oriented as a clock face, these markers appear at all eight 45-degree positions:
Clock Position
Degrees
Compass Point
Status
12:00
0 / 360
North
Confirmed
1:30
45
Northeast
Confirmed
3:00
90
East
Confirmed
4:30
135
Southeast
Confirmed
6:00
180
South
Confirmed
7:30
225
Southwest
Confirmed (slight scribal offset)
9:00
270
West
Confirmed
10:30
315
Northwest
Confirmed (slight scribal offset)
The slight positional offset at 7:30 and 10:30 is consistent with hand-drawn compass and quill production on vellum by a right-handed scribe. The drift occurring consistently in the lower-left quadrant argues for authentic human production rather than coincidental placement. These markers closely resemble the degree symbol (degrees), whose formal standardisation in trigonometric texts occurred in the late 16th century — representing a significant anachronism relative to the 1404-1438 carbon date of the vellum.
4. Folio 68v2: The Supernova 1006 Date Stamp
4.1 The Folio
Figure 2: Folio 68v2 of the Voynich Manuscript. The deep blue central flower represents maximum sky darkness. The yellow sticky note marks the word IPUINOVEMB at the Lupus constellation position. Stars are distributed across the circular star map.
4.2 Supernova 1006: Historical Background
Supernova 1006 (SN 1006) appeared in the constellation Lupus in April/May 1006 CE and is the brightest stellar explosion ever recorded in human history. It reached an estimated visual magnitude of -7.5, making it far brighter than Venus and visible during daylight hours. It was documented by observers across China, Japan, Egypt, Iraq, Switzerland, and Yemen. The supernova gradually faded over a period of approximately two and a half years, finally disappearing from naked-eye visibility.
Ibn Sina (Avicenna) recorded that the object remained for close to three months getting fainter and fainter, throwing out sparks and changing colour over time. Chinese Song dynasty records confirm it shone so brightly that objects on the ground could be seen at night. By the autumn of 1006, the great light that had defined the night sky for months was fading toward invisibility — a profoundly notable event for any medieval astronomer in Tuscany.
4.3 The Astronomical Verification — Stellarium Web
Figure 3: Stellarium Web screenshot — Location: Tuscany, Date: 1006-10-30 (Julian), Time: 19:31:51 UT. Moon panel confirms Phase: 0% (New Moon). Lupus constellation visible in the dark zone at the 4 o'clock position below the horizon.
Parameter
Stellarium Reading
Significance
Date
1006-10-30 Julian
Historically correct calendar for 1006 CE
Time
19:31:51 UT
Precise new moon moment
Location
Tuscany, Italy
Northwest Italy — consistent with VM provenance
Moon Phase
0%
Confirmed new moon — maximum sky darkness
Moon Rise
22:48
Moon below horizon at this moment
Lupus Position
4 o'clock in dark zone
Below horizon — SN 1006 site behind Earth
Sun Position
Near Scorpius/Libra
Just below horizon — pre-dawn scene
Sky condition
Dark night
No lunar or supernova light
Three simultaneous conditions created maximum sky darkness on this specific pre-dawn: (1) New Moon at 0% — zero lunar illumination; (2) SN 1006 faded after months of decline; and (3) Lupus below the horizon at the 4 o'clock position — the supernova's host constellation literally behind the Earth. For any observer in Tuscany in 1006 who had watched SN 1006 blazing for months, this specific pre-dawn sky would have been profoundly, historically significant. The great light was gone. The moon was gone. The sky was at its darkest since before the supernova first appeared.
4.4 The Word IPUINOVEMB — The Date Stamp
The word IPUINOVEMB appears in folio 68v2 at the position corresponding to the Lupus constellation in the star diagram. Breaking down the components:
Component
Reading
Identification
Significance
I
1
Roman Numeral
Ordinal marker
PUI
puis / punctum
Medieval Latin/Romance
Positional or temporal marker: thereafter / at this point
NOVEMB
November
Latin month abbreviation
Unambiguous — month of November
NOVEMB is an unambiguous abbreviation of November in Medieval Latin. Its placement precisely at the Lupus constellation position in folio 68v2 constitutes a direct date stamp recording the November 1006 observation — the month immediately following the October 30 new moon date verified by Stellarium. The author marked the month of the final fading of SN 1006 directly at the star's position in the diagram.
The deep blue colouring of the central flower in folio 68v2 — unique among the Voynich astronomical folios — now has a specific explanation: it represents the maximum darkness of the sky on the night SN 1006 finally disappeared below the horizon on a new moon, recorded from Tuscany, in November 1006.
5. Synthesis: The Complete Argument
5.1 Evidence Convergence
Evidence
Finding
Strength
Independent Verification
OCTOESOIC decode
EVA dairol = 8 x Pi x 1 x 100
Strong — internally consistent
Frequency analysis method
Eight 45-degree markers
Complete compass rose on f57v outer ring
Very strong — visually documented
Pixel measurement of image
Degree symbol glyphs
Late 16th c. notation present in pre-1438 manuscript
Strong — anachronistic
Astronomical history sources
SN 1006 new moon
Oct 30 1006 at 19:31:51 UT, 0% moon
Confirmed
Stellarium Web, Tuscany
Lupus at 4 o'clock
Below horizon at exact new moon moment
Confirmed
Stellarium Web screenshot
NOVEMB at Lupus position
Latin month name at Lupus in f68v2
Strong — linguistically clear
Visual identification in folio
Dark blue f68v2 centre
Maximum darkness encoding
Compelling
Unique among VM astro folios
Multi-century architecture
11th/15th/16th century elements combined
Structurally coherent
Historical calendar analysis
Wilfrid's profile
Means, motive, opportunity documented
Circumstantially strong
FBI records, biographical sources
5.2 The Forgery Mechanism — Step by Step
The hypothesis proposes the following construction sequence:
Wilfrid Voynich sources authentic blank 15th-century vellum from damaged manuscripts in his dealer inventory — material that would carbon date to 1404-1438 CE.
He constructs the EVA script as a frequency-based cipher of Medieval Latin, embedding numerical substitutions for OCTO, NOVEM, and QUATTUOR at their frequency ranks.
He encodes OCTOESOIC on folio 57v at the 10 o'clock position — a mathematical formula describing a circular food divided into eight portions — and marks the geometric 45-degree divisions with degree-symbol glyphs around the outer ring.
He constructs folio 68v2 as a star map of the sky over Tuscany on the night of October 30, 1006 Julian — the new moon night when SN 1006 faded below the horizon — using the deep blue colour to encode maximum sky darkness.
He inscribes IPUINOVEMB at the Lupus position in folio 68v2 as an embedded date stamp recording November 1006 — the month of the final fading.
He presents the manuscript publicly in 1915 as a discovered mystery, withholding the provenance location until his wife Ethel's posthumous letter confirmed Villa Mondragone, Frascati.
6. Conclusions and Call for Investigation
This paper has presented four independent, converging lines of evidence that the Voynich Manuscript is a sophisticated multi-century forgery created by Wilfrid Michael Voynich using authentic 15th-century vellum. The decoded word OCTOESOIC on folio 57v provides a mathematically verifiable result that generates an independently confirmable geometric structure within the folio itself. The eight 45-degree markers constitute a visually documentable complete compass rose. The Stellarium-verified astronomical configuration of October 30, 1006 Julian — new moon at 0%, Lupus below the horizon at 4 o'clock, from Tuscany — provides the first precisely dated, instrumentally confirmed astronomical observation encoded in MS-408. The word NOVEMB at the Lupus position in folio 68v2 provides the linguistic confirmation of the date.
The convergence of cryptographic, geometric, astronomical, and linguistic evidence presented here constitutes a prima facie case for the forgery hypothesis that warrants rigorous peer examination. The deep blue colouring of folio 68v2's central element — now interpretable as a direct visual record of the darkest sky of 1006 CE — is a detail that no coincidental construction could produce.
The authors call for the following investigative steps:
High-resolution photometric analysis of the eight identified glyph markers on folio 57v to confirm equidistance and glyph morphology consistent with degree notation.
Independent replication of the Stellarium Web astronomical verification for Tuscany, 1006-10-30, 19:31:51 UT, Julian calendar.
Systematic application of the Voynich Glossolalia frequency substitution system across all words on the outer ring of folio 57v and folio 68v2.
Ink and pigment isotope analysis of the deep blue pigment in folio 68v2 to determine its period of manufacture.
Archival investigation of Voynich's dealer inventory records for sources of 15th-century vellum manuscripts.
References and Sources
Primary Astronomical Sources
Stellarium Web Online Star Map. stellarium-web.org. Verification: Tuscany, 1006-10-30, 19:31:51 UT, Julian calendar. Moon Phase: 0%.
AstroPixels Six Millennium Catalog of Phases of the Moon. Fred Espenak. astropixels.com/ephemeris/phasescat. Julian calendar pre-1582.
NASA Chandra X-Ray Observatory. Supernova Remnant SN 1006. science.nasa.gov
Neuhaeuser, R. et al. An Arabic report about supernova SN 1006 by Ibn Sina (Avicenna). arxiv.org/pdf/1604.03798
Katsuda, S. Supernova of 1006 (G327.6+14.6). arxiv.org/pdf/1702.02054
Voynich Manuscript Sources
Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. Voynich Manuscript MS 408. beinecke.library.yale.edu
Zandbergen, R. Voynich MS — History and Description. voynich.nu
Wikipedia. Wilfrid Voynich. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilfrid_Voynich
Wikipedia. Voynich Manuscript. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voynich_manuscript
Sherwood, E. The Voynich Manuscript Astronomical Folio 68v2. edithsherwood.com
Historical and Astronomical Calendar Sources
Wikipedia. SN 1006. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SN_1006
National Geographic. Lost Sighting of Brightest Supernova Found in Ancient Text. nationalgeographic.com
Wikipedia. Compass Rose — History of the 8-Point System. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compass_rose
Stellarium Documentation. Calendar Class Reference — Julian Calendar pre-1582. stellarium.org/doc
Reingold, E. and Dershowitz, N. Calendrical Calculations. Cambridge University Press. 1997-2018.
This paper is submitted as an independent research hypothesis for peer review.
All astronomical data independently verifiable via Stellarium Web.
All folio imagery sourced from Beinecke MS 408, Yale University — public domain.
https://youtu.be/FCzGnRoxJB8?si=IllkGUbquXv5cSCK
https://youtu.be/ysp0SvZweHg?si=EKUr5cBn8t6Rs43T
