Yale’s Bienecke Library’s description: Written in Central Europe
at the end of the 15th or during the 16th century, the origin,
language, and date of the Voynich Manuscript—named after the
Polish-American antiquarian bookseller, Wilfrid M. Voynich, who
acquired it in 1912—are still being debated as vigorously as its
puzzling drawings and undeciphered text. Described as a magical
or scientific text, nearly every page contains botanical,
figurative, and scientific drawings of a provincial but lively
character, drawn in ink with vibrant washes in various shades of
green, brown, yellow, blue, and red. Based on the subject matter
of the drawings, the contents of the manuscript falls into six
sections: 1) botanicals containing drawings of 113 unidentified
plant species; 2) astronomical and astrological drawings
including astral charts with radiating circles, suns and moons,
Zodiac symbols such as fish (Pisces), a bull (Taurus), and an
archer (Sagittarius), nude females emerging from pipes or
chimneys, and courtly f