Deciphering the Voynich Manuscript (Beinecke MS 408): An Anagrammatic Italian Cipher and the Medical Legacy of Pietro da Eboli Summary: This paper presents a verified solution to the Voynich Manuscript (MS 408), demonstrating that it is a 15th-century medical compendium written in an anagrammatic Italian cipher. By applying a consistent orthographic mapping and an anagrammatic restoration, the text reveals a highly structured scientific work. Key Evidence Highlights: The Linguistic Anchor: The manuscript's most frequent word, qokedy, is decrypted as DICEBA (Old Italian diceva – "it stated"), the standard medieval formula for authoritative instructions. The Pharmaceutical "Smoking Gun": On Folio 104r (Recipes), the system yields the word ACETO (Vinegar), the primary solvent used in 15th-century pharmacy for extracting plant essences. The Historical Author: The recurring word EBOLI links the manuscript directly to the physician Pietro da Eboli and his famous work De balneis Puteolanis. Anatomical Consistency: In the balneological sections (e. g. , Folio 78r), the system consistently produces terms such as ALITO (Steam), LATO (Side), and GAMBE (Legs), matching the illustrations perfectly. This research transforms the world's most mysterious manuscript into a readable historical document, preserving the medical knowledge of the early Renaissance. Files included: whitepaperₛigned. pdf: The full research paper. whitepaperₛigned. pdf. asc: Digital PGP signature by Bernd Müller. berndₘuellerₚublic. asc: Public PGP key for signature verification.
Müller et al. (2026) studied this question.