Forensic Baseline Analysis Proves the Voynich Manuscript is Part Authentic, Part Modern Forgery
Forensic handwriting analysis has revealed that the Voynich Manuscript consists of TWO different hands: an authentic 1620s core from Gidea Hall, Essex, and extensive modern additions created by John Frederick Lewis in 1911-1912.
For over a century, researchers have debated whether the Voynich Manuscript is authentic medieval work or a modern hoax. The truth is more sophisticated than either extreme.
10-20% Authentic (Folio 1r and select pages from Gidea Hall, c.1620s)
70-80% Modern Forgery (Lewis additions, 1911-1912)
100% Fake Provenance (Forged 1665 Marci letter)
Forensic handwriting analysis using baseline geometry—a court-admissible technique that reveals unconscious motor patterns in handwriting—was applied to different sections of the Voynich Manuscript. The results were stunning:
Conclusion: Folio 1r was written by a different hand than the bulk of the manuscript. The bulk shows John Frederick Lewis's unconscious baseline arching pattern—the same pattern that appears in the forged Marci letter.
Baseline geometry analysis examines the invisible line that handwriting follows across a page. This baseline pattern is an unconscious motor habit that persists across all of a person's writing and cannot be easily controlled or suppressed.
Straight/Horizontal Baselines
Period scribes writing on vellum typically produced straight or slightly horizontal baselines. This is what we see in authenticated 17th-century documents.
Examples:
Arching Baselines
John Frederick Lewis had an unconscious habit: his baselines arch upward from left to right. This involuntary pattern appears in ALL his writing.
Examples:
Folio 1r shows STRAIGHT baselines while the bulk of the manuscript shows ARCHING baselines. This proves two different writers created these sections.
Since the arching baselines match John Frederick Lewis's known handwriting pattern, we can conclusively identify him as the author of the bulk text and the forged Marci letter.
An unknown scribe in England created a mysterious manuscript featuring:
This manuscript was kept at Gidea Hall in Essex by the Cooke family. Alice or Avis Cooke added marginal annotations in English Secretary Hand during the period 1580-1640.
The manuscript passed to the Hollebone family, professional booksellers and antiquarians at Gidea Hall:
At some point, the Hollebones removed pages from the manuscript—possibly to sell individually, a common practice among antiquarian dealers. These became the "lost pages" that researchers have long noted as missing from the quire structure.
Wilfrid Voynich purchased the incomplete authentic manuscript from Henry S. Hollebone at Gidea Hall in 1911.
What Voynich acquired:
An incomplete, mysterious manuscript with no provenance: ~$1,000 value
A complete "lost Roger Bacon manuscript" with Prague provenance: $100,000+ value
Voynich enlisted John Frederick Lewis—a Philadelphia manuscript collector and skilled forger—to expand the manuscript:
The result: Lewis created the bulk of the Voynich Manuscript by copying from the authentic folio 1r. But his unconscious baseline arching pattern appears throughout his additions—revealing them as modern forgeries when compared to the straight baselines of the original.
To complete the deception, Lewis forged the 1665 "Marci" letter to Kircher, creating a false Prague provenance:
The same arching baselines appear in the forged Marci letter, proving Lewis created both the letter and the bulk manuscript text.
Voynich announced his "discovery" of the manuscript:
Unknown scribe creates mysterious manuscript with unknown script, botanical illustrations, astronomical diagrams. Alice/Avis Cooke adds Secretary Hand annotations.
Professional booksellers at Gidea Hall possess the manuscript. Some pages removed and sold individually ("lost pages"). Manuscript becomes fragmentary.
Wilfrid Voynich purchases incomplete authentic manuscript from Henry S. Hollebone at Gidea Hall. Ethel Voynich writes sealed letter about the acquisition (opened after her death, contradicts later story).
John Frederick Lewis creates 200+ pages of Voynichese text copying from authentic folio 1r. His unconscious baseline arching appears throughout. Adds marginalia attempting to mimic Secretary Hand.
Lewis forges the 1665 "Marci" letter using repurposed antique paper, creating false Prague provenance (Roger Bacon, Rudolf II, 600 ducats). Same arching baselines prove Lewis authorship.
Voynich announces acquisition from Villa Mondragone (false). Claims he "didn't notice" the Marci letter at first (implausible). Story changes multiple times.
700th anniversary of Roger Bacon's birth. 1915 Chicago Exhibition. Voynich asks $100,000+ for "lost Roger Bacon manuscript." The hybrid forgery appears complete and authentic.
Baseline analysis reveals two different hands: straight baselines (folio 1r, authentic) vs. arching baselines (bulk text, Lewis forgery). The hybrid nature is finally proven.
The manuscript originally contained more pages that were removed by the Hollebones and sold individually. This explains the incomplete quire structure and missing folio numbers.
These appear on the authentic Gidea Hall pages (added by Alice/Avis Cooke, 1580-1640). Lewis tried to copy them in his additions but his different handwriting characteristics (including baseline arching) reveal them as modern.
Folio 1r: straight baselines (authentic period writing)
Bulk text: arching baselines (Lewis copying the style but with his unconscious motor pattern)
Marginalia: arching baselines (Lewis additions)
Forged Marci letter: arching baselines (Lewis forgery)
He couldn't reveal he bought it from Hollebone at Gidea Hall in England (would reveal the expansion fraud). The Villa Mondragone story was fabricated to match the forged Marci letter's Prague provenance.
Ethel's sealed letter (opened after her death) mentions the manuscript's acquisition in 1911—contradicting the 1912 "discovery" story. This is because Voynich actually did acquire the authentic core in 1911 from Hollebone.
Joseph Strickland (head of Villa Mondragone) was Voynich's close friend. This connection allowed Voynich to:
Philadelphia manuscript collector with documented business relationship to Voynich. Skilled enough to copy Voynichese style but his unconscious motor patterns betray the forgery.
Every element—Georg Baresch ownership, Marci inheritance, gift to Kircher, Roger Bacon authorship, Rudolf II purchase, 600 ducats—depends on the forged 1665 Marci letter. With that letter proven fake, the entire narrative collapses.
30+ primary sources document the Cooke and Hollebone families at Gidea Hall from 1516-1912. The Secretary Hand annotations match this English provenance perfectly.
This breakthrough represents true collaborative research combining multiple expertise areas and analytical approaches:
This is how modern breakthrough research happens: combining human expertise, years of archival research, advanced analytical tools, and collaborative investigation. No single person or approach could have achieved this alone.
Not a medieval cipher. Not a complete hoax. Something more interesting:
An authentic mysterious manuscript from 1620s England (Gidea Hall, Essex)
was purchased incomplete by Wilfrid Voynich in 1911,
expanded into a 200+ page work by forger John Frederick Lewis,
given a fake Prague provenance through a forged 1665 letter,
and marketed as a "lost Roger Bacon manuscript"
for over 100x its actual value.
The Voynich Manuscript is a sophisticated hybrid forgery—the most difficult kind to detect because it contains genuine period material at its core.
But forensic handwriting analysis reveals the truth: the baselines don't lie.
Straight baselines = authentic 1620s Gidea Hall
Arching baselines = Lewis forgery 1911-1912
This discovery fundamentally changes Voynich research. The manuscript deserves to have its true history told—not a fabricated romance created for profit.
The authentic core of the Voynich Manuscript—the mysterious work created in 1620s England—still holds secrets worth investigating. But those secrets must be sought in the truth of Gidea Hall, not in the fiction of Prague.