FOLGER

Washington, D.C. - January 28, 2015: "A new method of cryptography" {sic}, left, was written by double agent Samuel Morland, after the English Civil War. It's one of the rarest books about cryptography. A Wheatstone-Plett Cipher Device, created in the 1860's by Sir Charles Wheatstone. It was considered to be unbreakable, but before the U.S. Army adopted it, William and Elizabeth Friedman were asked to test it. They cracked the system in less than three hours.

The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington D.C. is exhibiting a historical collection of cryptology, "Decoding the Renaissance: 500 Years of Codes and Ciphers."
The exhibit's center-piece is the mysterious Voynich manuscript, a 14th century book written in an unknown language, yet to be translated. The manuscript was long considered to be a cipher, but American codebreaker, William Friedman debunked the notion that the book is code, concluding it is written in an unknown language. Friedman, who broke Japan's Purple code in WWII, and his wife Elizabeth also dismissed Baconist conspiracy theories that Shakespeare's plays were peppered with ciphered clues that Sir Francis Bacon actually wrote the plays.

CREDIT: Matt Roth for The New York Times
Assignment ID: 30170041A

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Image Size: 5563x3709 / 6.4MB; mattrothphoto.com; BALTIMORE PHOTOGRAPHER Matt Roth photo photographer photography Folger Shakespeare Library DECODING THE RENAISSANCE EXHIBIT Voynich manuscript coding cipher cryptography William Friedman PURPLE Japanese code WWII spy
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Washington, D.C. - January 28, 2015: "A new method of cryptography" {sic}, left, was written by double agent Samuel Morland, after the English Civil War. It's one of the rarest books about cryptography. A Wheatstone-Plett Cipher Device, created in the 1860's by Sir Charles Wheatstone. It was considered to be unbreakable, but before the U.S. Army adopted it, William and Elizabeth Friedman were asked to test it. They cracked the system in less than three hours. <br />
<br />
The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington D.C. is exhibiting a historical collection of cryptology, "Decoding the Renaissance: 500 Years of Codes and Ciphers."<br />
The exhibit's center-piece is the mysterious Voynich manuscript, a 14th century book written in an unknown language, yet to be translated. The manuscript was long considered to be a cipher, but American codebreaker, William Friedman debunked the notion that the book is code, concluding it is written in an unknown language. Friedman, who broke Japan's Purple code in WWII, and his wife Elizabeth also dismissed Baconist conspiracy theories that Shakespeare's plays were peppered with ciphered clues that Sir Francis Bacon actually wrote the plays. <br />
<br />
<br />
CREDIT: Matt Roth for The New York Times<br />
Assignment ID: 30170041A