Polygraphie et universelle escriture cabalistique, Johannes Trithemius, published Paris, 1561
The German abbot Trithemius (1462–1516) is an important name in the history of cryptography – the science and art of making and breaking codes – and also in the history of occult studies. Trithemius wrote about code breaking and about communication using spirits, both topics known to interest John Dee. In 1564, while Dee was staying in the city of Antwerp, he managed to track down a manuscript copy of Trithemius’ most famous work, the Steganographia, and to borrow it so that it could be copied out.
The Polygraphie (also known in Latin as the Polygraphia) is the first printed book about the subject of cryptography. The copy owned by Dee contains practical devices, cipher discs, to help the reader encrypt or decrypt text. There are 12 rotating paper discs known as ‘volvelles’. They are in remarkably good condition, and still turn today.
Cryptography was a life and death matter in Tudor England, no mere abstract study. In a new interview filmed last year, Simon Singh explains its importance during the reign of Elizabeth I, no more dramatically illustrated than via the foiled Babbington plot.