Rare work on cryptography. 1734
BREITHAUPT, Christian. Ars Decifratoria sive scientia occultas scripturas solvendi et legendi.
Helmstadii, Weygand, 1737.
1000 €
Small 8vo (16.2x10 cm), 32-160-(12) pages and one folding table. illustration: Engraved cryptographic title vignette and numerous diagrams, tables and specimens of encryption in the text. The folding table shows Kircher’s Abacus numeralis. binding: Modern full limp vellum. Lower margin of de folding table cropped, touching the last line.
The art of deciphering, preceded by an historical essay on the different ways to write numbers.
First edition of this rare study of the history of cryptography, encryption theories and methods of decryption.Cryptographic methods included among others alphabetic substitutions, ciphers, dislocation of letters, invented symbols, and corrupt forms of foreign alphabets. Cryptography was mostly used in secret diplomacy.
Numerous methods are illustrated in the text and the folding table shows Kircher’s Abacus numeralis.
Breithaupt’s Ars decifratoria ‘contains valuable information concerning the history of cryptography, theories of cipherment, and methods of deciphering’ (Galland, p. 29).
Rare book.
references: Macclesfield [II, 423], Michaud :"C'est l'un des meilleurs ouvrages que nous ayons sur la stéganographie", Galland (An historical and analytical bibliography of the literature of cryptology) [p.19]. Rosenthal [2110, 6031].
provenance: Inscription on title (?? 1769).
