The Voynich manuscript is an illustrated codex that is hand-written in an unidentified script referred to as ‘Voynichese’. [18] The vellum on which it is written has been carbon-dated to the early 15th century (1404–1438) Stylistic analysis has indicated that the manuscript may have been composed in Italy during the Italian Renaissance. Although the origins, authorship, and purpose of the manuscript remain controversial, various hypotheses have been proposed, including but not limited to a script for a natural language or constructed language, an unread code, cypher, or other form of cryptography, or a hoax, reference work (such as a folkloric index or compendium), or work of fiction (such as science fantasy or mythopoeia, metafiction, or mythop

The manuscript contains around 240 pages, but there is evidence that pages are missing. The text is arranged from left to right, and certain pages feature foldable sheets of varying sizes. The majority of the pages feature imaginative illustrations and diagrams, some of which are crudely colored. Additionally, certain sections of the manuscript depict individuals, fictional plants, astrological symbols, among other things. The manuscript was named after Wilfrid Voynich, a Polish book dealer who purchased it in 1912. Since 1969, it has been held in Yale University’s Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.

The Voynich manuscript has been studied by both professional and amateur cryptographers, including codebreakers from both World War I and World War II.

The manuscript has never been demonstrably deciphered, and none of the proposed hypotheses have been independently verified. The mystery of its meaning and origin has sparked speculation and provoked study.

Codicology is the study of dicology.

Researchers have examined the codicology, which refers to the physical characteristics of the manuscript. The manuscript measures 23.5 by 16.2 by 5 cm (9.3 by 6.4 by 2.0 in) and comprises of numerous vellum pages arranged into 18 quires. The total number of pages is approximately 240, however, the precise number is contingent upon the method of counting the manuscript’s unusual foldouts. [12] The quires have been numerically numbered from 1 to 20 in various locations, employing a numeral style that is consistent with the 15th century. Additionally, the top righthand corner of each recto (righthand) page has been numerically numbered from 1 to 116, employing a numeral style that originated at a later time. From the various numbering gaps in the quires and pages, it appears likely that in the past, the manuscript had at least 272 pages in 20 quires, some of which were already missing when Wilfrid Voynich acquired the manuscript in 1912. There is strong evidence that many of the book’s bifolios were rearranged at various points in the book’s history, and that its pages were originally in a different order than they are in today.

Parchment, covers, and binding are all included.

The manuscript was radiocarbon dated at the University of Arizona in 2009. Protein testing in 2014 revealed that the parchment was made from calfskin, and multispectral analysis showed that it was not written on before the manuscript was created. The quality of the parchment is average and exhibits defects such as holes and tears, which are common in parchment codices. However, it was meticulously prepared and the skin side is largely indistinguishable from the flesh side. The parchment is derived from “at least fourteen or fifteen complete calfskins.”

Some folios are thicker than the usual parchment.

The goat skin binding and covers are not original to the book, but are dated to its possession by the Collegio Romano. The presence of insect holes on the first and last folios of the manuscript in its current order suggests that a wooden cover existed prior to the later covers. Discolouration along the edges points to a tanned leather inside cover.

The pigment of ink.

Numerous pages contain substantial drawings or charts that have been colored with paint. Based on modern analysis using polarized light microscopy, it has been determined that a quill pen and iron gall ink were used for text and figure outlines. The ink of the drawings, text, and page and quire numbers exhibit similar microscopic characteristics. In 2009, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) revealed that the inks contained substantial quantities of carbon, iron, sulfur, potassium, and calcium, along with trace amounts of copper and occasionally zinc. X-ray diffraction (XRD) identified potassium lead oxide, potassium hydrogen sulphate, and syngenite in one of the samples tested. The similarity between drawing and text ink suggested a contemporaneous origin.

Apply paint.
Possibly, at a later date, colored paint was applied to the ink-outlined figures. The blue, white, red-brown, and green paints of the manuscript were analysed using PLM, XRD, EDS, and scanning electron microscopy.

The blue paint was found to be ground azurite with minor traces of copper oxide cuprite.

It is likely that the white paint is a mixture of egg white and calcium carbonate.
The green paint is tentatively classified as copper and copper-chlorine resinate; the crystalline material might be atacamite or another copper-chlorine compound.
Analyzing the red-brown paint indicated a red ochre with the crystal phases hematite and iron sulfide. It is possible that the red-brown paint contains minor amounts of lead sulfide and palmierite.
The pigments were considered inexpensive.

The process of retouching.
Jorge Stolfi, computer scientist at the University of Campinas, noted that parts of the text and drawings have been modified, using darker ink over a fainter, earlier script. Evidence for this is visible in various folios, such as f1r, f3v, f26v, f57v, f67r2, f71r, f72v1, f72v3 and f73r.[30]

The text is below.

Page 119; page 66r, showing characteristics of the text.

Page 191 on f107r contains textual information.
Every page of the manuscript contains text, mostly in an unidentified language, but there are also extraneous writings in Latin script. The majority of the 240-page manuscript is written in an unknown script, which runs from left to right. The majority of the characters are comprised of one or two simple pen strokes. There exists some controversy regarding the distinctness of certain characters; however, a script comprising 20-25 characters would constitute the majority of the text. The exceptions are a few dozen uncommon characters that occur only once or twice each. There exists no apparent punctuation.

The majority of the text is presented in a single column within the page’s main body, accompanied by a slightly ragged right margin, paragraph divisions, and occasionally with stars in the left margin. Additionally, additional text may be found in charts or as labels associated with illustrations. The ductus flows smoothly, giving the impression that the symbols were not enciphered. There is no delay between characters, as would be expected in written encoded text.

The use of extraneous writing.
It is believed that only a few of the words in the manuscript were not written in the unknown script:

A sequence of Latin letters is found in the right margin, parallel to characters from the unknown script. Also, the now-unreadable signature of “Jacob à Tepenece” is found in the bottom margin.
A line of writing in Latin script in the top margin.
In the bottom left corner, near a drawing of a naked man, a small number of words have been interpreted as der Mussteil, a High German phrase for ‘a widow’s share’.
The astrological series of diagrams in the astronomical section have the names of ten of the months (from March to December) written in Latin script, with spelling suggesting the medieval languages of France, northwest Italy, or the Iberian Peninsula.
Four lines were written in a rather distorted Latin script, referred to as “Michitonese”, except for two words in the unknown script. It appears that the Latin script words are distorted with characteristics of an unknown language. The lettering bears resemblance to the European alphabets of the late 14th and 15th centuries, however, the words do not seem to make sense in any language. [32] It is uncertain whether these fragments of Latin script were incorporated into the original text or were subsequently added.