Humans have been writing books for hundreds of years, and collectively we’ve amassed countless thousands that have been read, reproduced, and replicated over and over. And while the vast majority of the books we have access to are readily available to read whenever, there are a few exceptions that have long mystified historians many years.
These are pieces of literature that have become legendary in their own right, and they’re some of the greatest mysteries of the modern age.
Codex Seraphinus
The Codex Seraphinus is a scripture of of 360 pages that has been under debate for decades. It was published originally in 1981, is an encyclopedia of a totally made-up world, created by Luigi Serafini. He described the creation of the book as a way of recapturing a feel he had had when he was a small child, long before he was able to read. The pictures, information, and charts contained within are designed to be decipherable to a small child rather than an intellectual, as a way of entering into a world that only a child’s mind could create.
Rohonc Codex
This 448-page manuscript, known as the Rohonc Codex, was first found during the 1800s in Hungary, and it has been something of a mystery in the world of literature ever since. No one is certain who wrote the codex, when it was completed, or the meaning behind its many strange and unique symbols. And
speaking of symbols, there are almost 200 of them in total, and depict military battles, religion – including Christianity and Islam – and more. Some historians have linked the codex to ancient Sumer and Hinduism, although no concrete evidence has ever been found.
The Book of Soyga
John Dee was an occultist and mathematician that lived in the 16th century, and was the original founder of the Book of Soyga. The book was lost to the ages until being rediscovered in 1994, and it’s been under investigation ever since. Incantations, spells, astrology, and other writings can be found on its pages, all of which written in a format that nobody has ever been able to understand. Much of it seems to be written in code, but without the original, accompanying cipher even if it’s offers fun games for all to give it a try, nonetheless.
Voynich Manuscript
Arguably the most famous of history’s most mysterious literature, the Voynich Manuscript is a true marvel that has fascinated historians for hundreds of years. Believed to be a book on botany and written at some point in the 15th century, all of the plants that have been inked in the manuscript are without origin, and have never been recorded in any other botanical records. Along with plants, the book also contains astrological and astronomical charts, as well as detailed drawings of the human body and reproductive system. Some have speculated that it was a medical journal, one of the earliest of its kind, but its unfathomable writings have remained unbroken, even after being studied by some of the world’s best cryptographers. The original is held at Beinecke Library in Yale, and its contents may never be truly deciphered.
