# Press kit: The Voynich Manuscript > Mysteries Department publishes the first release of its open research on the fifteenth-century book no one can read. Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript/releases/press-kit/1.0 Publisher: Mysteries Department Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page) --- Version 1.0 · 24 October 2026**SRC** 0D9X1SJ25PZY [Brief (PDF)](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript/releases/brief/1.0.pdf)[Download everythingZIP](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript/releases/press-kit/1.0.zip) ## Press release [Copy text][Text](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript/releases/press-kit/1.0/press-release.txt) For release 24 October 2026 ### Not a simple cipher: open tests narrow what the Voynich Manuscript could be Mysteries Department publishes the first release of its open research on the fifteenth-century book no one can read. Letter-for-letter ciphers of Latin, Italian, German, French and Czech can be ruled out as the source of the Voynich Manuscript's text, according to tests published today by Mysteries Department, an open research platform for unsolved mysteries. The same tests recover keys planted in control texts 98 to 100 per cent of the time. The work also found that the text follows rules of its own. Words that can end in -m or -in are written with -m far more often at the end of a line, as scribes shortened words to fit, and the first word of each herbal page appears on no other page, as a plant's name would. None of this reads the manuscript. No proposed reading, including the project's own first attempt in March 2026, has produced a dictionary word on pages it was not built from. Every test, dataset and result is public at mysteriesdept.com, where researchers can rerun them. Notes for editors **The Voynich Manuscript** An illustrated book of 102 leaves held by the Beinecke Library at Yale as MS 408. Its parchment is dated 1404–1438. It is written in an unknown script and has never been read. **Mysteries Department** An open research platform for the world's unsolved mysteries. Sources, datasets and methods are shared, answers are tested in public, and results are reviewed before they count. **Images** Manuscript images are in the public domain; charts are CC BY 4.0. Credit lines are under each image below. This release Mystery The Voynich Manuscript Version 1.0 Date 24 Oct 2026 Findings 61, of which 39 established Questions 23; 5 key Editor [apollo](https://mysteriesdept.com/u/apollo) [Read the mystery page](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript) [What's changed since](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript#releases) ## Key facts **1404–1438** parchment radiocarbon-dated **102** leaves, of about 116 **38,000** words, in an unknown script **5** scribes **5** key questions; none fully answered **247** tests run here, with controls ## Images Public domain. Please credit the Beinecke Library.[All images (ZIP)](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript/releases/press-kit/1.0-images.zip) ![Folio 78r: figures bathing in green pools](https://mysteriesdept.com/media/folio/78r?w=800)VMS-78R Folio 78r: figures bathing in green pools Credit: Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Yale University _Public domain_ 2000 × 2693 · JPG · 1.3 MB[Download](https://mysteriesdept.com/media/folio/78r?w=2000) ![The nine-rosette fold-out, ff. 85v–86r](https://mysteriesdept.com/media/site/f86.jpg)VMS-85V The nine-rosette fold-out, ff. 85v–86r Credit: Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Yale University _Public domain_ JPG[Download](https://mysteriesdept.com/media/site/f86.jpg) ![Folio 2r: a plant no one has identified for certain](https://mysteriesdept.com/media/folio/2r?w=800)VMS-2R Folio 2r: a plant no one has identified for certain Credit: Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Yale University _Public domain_ 2000 × 2802 · JPG · 1.2 MB[Download](https://mysteriesdept.com/media/folio/2r?w=2000) ![Folio 1r: the first page, where Tepenec's erased signature was found](https://mysteriesdept.com/media/folio/1r?w=800)VMS-1R Folio 1r: the first page, where Tepenec's erased signature was found Credit: Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Yale University _Public domain_ 2000 × 2534 · JPG · 1.0 MB[Download](https://mysteriesdept.com/media/folio/1r?w=2000) ![Folio 67r: star charts from the astronomical section](https://mysteriesdept.com/media/folio/67r?w=800)VMS-67R Folio 67r: star charts from the astronomical section Credit: Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Yale University _Public domain_ 4972 × 3738 · JPG · 4.0 MB[Download](https://mysteriesdept.com/media/folio/67r?w=2000) ![Folio 88r: jars and roots from the pharmaceutical section](https://mysteriesdept.com/media/folio/88r?w=800)VMS-88R Folio 88r: jars and roots from the pharmaceutical section Credit: Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Yale University _Public domain_ 2000 × 2752 · JPG · 1.2 MB[Download](https://mysteriesdept.com/media/folio/88r?w=2000) ## Charts CC BY 4.0. Credit Mysteries Department.[All charts (ZIP)](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript/releases/press-kit/1.0-charts.zip) ![Letter-for-letter ciphers of five languages find no key](https://mysteriesdept.com/media/site/pk-chart-ciphers.jpg)MD-CH1 Letter-for-letter ciphers of five languages find no key Credit: Mysteries Department _CC BY 4.0_ JPG[Download](https://mysteriesdept.com/media/site/pk-chart-ciphers.jpg) ![Word order carries far less information than in 102 languages](https://mysteriesdept.com/media/site/pk-chart-order.jpg)MD-CH2 Word order carries far less information than in 102 languages Credit: Mysteries Department _CC BY 4.0_ JPG[Download](https://mysteriesdept.com/media/site/pk-chart-order.jpg) ![Spelling changes at the end of the line](https://mysteriesdept.com/media/site/pk-chart-line.jpg)MD-CH3 Spelling changes at the end of the line Credit: Mysteries Department _CC BY 4.0_ JPG[Download](https://mysteriesdept.com/media/site/pk-chart-line.jpg) ## Documents **[Mystery brief](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript/releases/brief/1.0)** Four pages: where it stands, the evidence, and every reading so far. v1.0 [PDF · 3.7 MB](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript/releases/brief/1.0.pdf) **[Reading Without a Key](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript/releases/book/2.0)** The book: every question, answer, finding and method. 193 pages. v2.0 [Preview](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript/releases/book/2.0) **Logos** Mysteries Department mark and wordmark, on light and dark. SVG [ZIP](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript/releases/press-kit/1.0.zip) ## Using these **Manuscript images** Public domain. Use them freely; credit the library. ``` Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Yale University ``` **Text, charts and the brief** CC BY 4.0. Copy, adapt and republish, with credit and a link. ``` Mysteries Department, mysteriesdept.com (CC BY 4.0) ``` **Our logo** Use it to refer to us, unchanged. Don't use it to suggest we endorse something. ## How to cite ``` Mysteries Department. (2026). The Voynich Manuscript: Press kit (Version 1.0) [SRC0D9X1SJ25PZY]. https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript/releases/press-kit/1.0 ``` ## Earlier versions 1.024 Oct 2026First release: five ciphers ruled out; layout rules foundCurrent **Press contact** [press@mysteriesdept.com](mailto:press@mysteriesdept.com) · We reply within two working days [RSS for this mystery's releases](https://mysteriesdept.com/news.xml)