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Gerry Kennedy

The Voynich Manuscript: The Unsolved Riddle of an Extraordinary 16th Century Book Which Even Today Defies Interpretation Paperback – 3 Feb. 2005

by Gerry Kennedy (Author), Rob Churchill (Author)

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In 1912, Wilfrid Voynich, an antiquarian book dealer, stumbled upon a strange volume, its vellum pages covered in a beautiful but unrecognisable script accompanied by equally mystifying pictures. The codex, approximately 6 x 9 inches, has remained undeciphered from that day to this. Voynich believed the codex to be the work of medieval philosopher Roger Bacon, others that the Elizabethan mathematician and occultist John Dee was the author. Whoever created the book - which now resides at Yale University - it remains to this day a singular enigma which continues to defy the best efforts of linguists, cryptanalysts and scholars. With the benefit of the authors' exhaustive research, readers can hazard their own guesses as to the meaning and provenance of this most beguiling of mysteries...

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Print length

336 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Orion mass market paperback
Publication date

3 Feb. 2005
Dimensions

12.7 x 2.57 x 19.56 cm
ISBN-10

075286422X
ISBN-13

978-0752864228

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The Voynich Manuscript: The World's Most Mysterious and Esoteric Codex: The Complete Edition of the World' Most Mysterious and Esoteric Codex
Dr Stephen Skinner

Hardcover
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Review

'The clashing interpretations are aired ably and open-mindedly and the books includes plenty of mesmerising images from the enigmatic codex.' -- GUARDIAN

'A fascinating examination of the latest theories concerning the manuscript' -- SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

About the Author

The authors are producers and film-makers. Gerry Kennedy is a relative of Voynich and has been researching the manuscript for many years and has amassed a unique archive of material. He has made a number of BBC Radio 4 programmes, including one on the Voynich Manuscript. Rob Churchill has written scripts for the BBC, Thames Television and numerous independent production companies in Britain and abroad.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Orion mass market paperback
Publication date ‏ : ‎ 3 Feb. 2005
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Print length ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 075286422X
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0752864228
Item weight ‏ : ‎ 330 g
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 12.7 x 2.57 x 19.56 cm
Best Sellers Rank: 3,303,526 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 527 in Antique & Collectable Books
- 1,065 in Antique & Collectable Posters & Cards
- 1,142 in Paper Ephemera
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27 ratings

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Green Man Music
A mini-cyclopedia of Forteana
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 23 December 2005
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Kennedy & Churchill's "The Voynich Manuscript" is much more than a book simply about one subject: it is a modern treatise on a rich seam of phenomena and the range of eccentric, occult and devious characters throughout European history who have shaped them.
On the surface, it is a book about one subject: the (likely mediaeval) manuscript written in code (its various sections illustrated with pictures of plants, astronomy, naked dancing nymphs and unintelligible symbology) that has defied attempts at deciphering, from the early students of occult and mystical languages through to the modern cipher-breakers of wartime Europe. It also builds up a chronologically formatted story of the Manuscript from its first appearance in records to its current whereabouts.
In the quest to discover who might have written the manuscript, why they wrote it, and ultimately to decipher its message, Churchill & Kennedy manage to create a cyclopedia of information, a Fortean who's-who of strange people and what's-what of strange phenomena, all who may have been connected in some way with the manuscript, or knowledge of which might assist them in their understanding of it.
Thus we travel through the ages learning about various people and various phenomena, including the life and works of characters such as Roger Bacon, Dr John Dee, St Hildegard and Voynich himself; and in the process discovering the Shakers and the spirit-world, magic and mediaeval science, how migraines work, how codes and ciphers work, and so on, and on ...
How the authors managed to get so much information, interestingly written and clearly explained, in one 300 page volume is a mystery almost as great as the one they are researching.
It's certainly one of the most interesting reads I've had of late and thoroughly recommended.

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Jack Varley
A More Enrapturing Historical Mystery than any Dan Brown Novel
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 8 December 2020
Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
Before buying this book, I remembered years ago learning of the Voynich manuscript, its bizarre nature having been recounted in a brief article. I was very young when I read that article, but the idea of the manuscript remained embedded in my mind from that point on - which is what led to me recently seeking out an authoritative book on the subject. I am pleased to say that I found that (and more!) with this work. The book is a star-studded historical adventure featuring cameos from a great many surprising names: H.P. Lovecraft, Leonardo da Vinci, Erwin Schrödinger (yes, *that* Schrödinger) and so, so many more. There is something infectious about the mystery of the Voynich manuscript, and I can safely say I was totally seized by this contagion while reading this book.

The history of the object (who had it, and where/when) is explored, as are the lives and efforts of the eclectic cast of characters who have attempted to decipher its contents (some of whom even purporting to have successfully done so). Also explored are the myriad theories which have been proposed as to its provenance. Perhaps it is nothing but the work of a medieval monk plagued by a severe mental illness that he could not understand or treat, prompting an obsessive compulsion to create a document with no deeper meaning than his own madness? Or perhaps it is the key to understanding how and when the galaxy will implode, compiled by Nostradamus after the information was imparted down to him by an ancient race of space-aliens? Maybe a lost and forgotten attempt by Marco Polo to create a new language out of European and Chinese texts? These are just some of the theories proposed by researchers, which range from the thought-provokingly plausible to the entertainingly absurd.

As much as I enjoyed this book (which I really, really did) - it is not perfect. It goes on to a lot of historical tangents, and while most of these are interesting and relevant, the flow does occasionally wander off into the proverbial wilderness. This was particularly evident in the chapters devoted to exploring cryptography. Cryptography is a subject I have not read anything about before, with this book delving into explaining various ciphers. This was interesting, but the book spent far too long on each cipher, often becoming highly repetitive in its explanations. I found that, (even as a beginner) after a certain cipher was adequately explained and understood, the authors would still spend several more unnecessary pages providing examples to get the reader to understand, which did become tiresome at some points.

The book itself is beautiful, perhaps my favourite book I own visually and tactilely! The jacket feels like old parchment, and the glow of the title and parts of the Voynich illustrations really grab the eye. Images of the manuscript are included throughout when certain pages are being described (although I felt pictures of the manuscript should have been included more often in these parts). There are however several sections wherein pages from the manuscript are reproduced in full and in colour, which was appreciated. I would highly recommend this book to anyone with even a passing interest in the Voynich manuscript, as well as to anyone who enjoys historical non-fiction books and even mystery fiction stories. It will likely not hold the same appeal to the general reader (i.e.: those who aren't as nerdy as myself!) but to those with any interest in the unexplained and the unsolved: this is the book for you.

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Alex
Great!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 12 September 2016
Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
Great!

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C J Lowery
Voynich
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 8 December 2014
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
Interesting, with a deal of surrounding information. The search could be narrowed if Yale, the manuscript owners, arranged an up to date analysis of it. Until this is done, further work seems pointless.

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Alan Anderson
Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 31 August 2014
Format: Hardcover
Excellent introduction to the subject

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Michael Lancashire
A useful introduction to anyone who is unfamiliar with the manuscript
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 9 February 2014
Format: Paperback
While trying to think of plot hooks for my novel, The Voynich Deception, I remembered reading this book and sought out another copy.

There are books that put forward one explanation or another more strongly but this gives a good overview of the known history and several of the competing theories.

As another reviewer comments it is missing a particularly interesting theory, Nick Pelling's Averlino theory. This shouldn't be taken as a criticism of Kennedy and Churchill though, they were likely unaware of it as both books were published at around the same time.

Overall this book would be a useful introduction to anyone who is unfamiliar with the manuscript but suffers slightly from the lack of a revised edition and the subsequent publication by Yale of full colour scans of the manuscript itself. For anybody who wants to get up to date a trawl of the internet would be a necessary addition.

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