![]() Copy of Polygraphia | |
Author | Johannes Trithemius |
---|---|
Original title | Polygraphia |
Language | Latin |
Genre | Cryptographic, steganography |
Publication date | 1518 |
Publication place | Germany |
Published in English | N/A |
Media type | Printed book |
Preceded by | Steganography |
Polygraphia is a cryptographic work written by Johannes Trithemius published in 1518 dedicated to the art of steganography. [1]
The full title is Polygraphiae libri sex, Ioannis Trithemii abbatis Peapolitani, quondam Spanheimensis, ad Maximilianum Caesarem [Six books of polygraphy, by Johannes Trithemius, abbot at Würzburg, formerly at Spanheim, for the Emperor Maximilian ].
It is the oldest known source of the popular Witches' Alphabet, used at large by modern traditions of witchcraft. [2]
It is composed of six books and a decrypytion key
The work ends with alphabets of his invention as the "tetragramaticus" formed by 4 characters that are diversified in 24 letters and the "enagramaticus" of 9 characters and 28 letters, from which he gives examples of writings that belongs to something it resembles a natural language.
According to some scholars[ who? ], both books, Steganographia and Polygraphia, are but a single work presented in two parts: the first is metaphysical and quite theoretical (it even hides a complete treatise on "angelology", or the study of angels with their names and hierarchies, between its pages), the second is more practical and is used for encoding messages.