by DAVID KAHN
125 “Dato and I”: My translation from the two Italian translations of Alberti’s manual, in his Opuscoli Morali, trans. Cosimo Bartoli (Venice: Francesco Franceschi, 1568), 200-219, and in Sacco, Primato, 37-50.
126 Alberti: Enciclopedia Italiana; Biographie Universelle; Giorgio Vasari, Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors and Architects, trans. Gaston du C. de Vere (London: Medici Society, 1912-1915), III, 43-48; Lauro Martines, The Social World of the Florentine Humanists, 1390-1460 (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1963); Meister, Päpstlichen, 25-26.
126 Burckhardt: (1860), Part II, ch. 2, trans. S. G. C. Middlemore (1929, reprinted New York: Harper Torchbooks, 1958), 148-150.
126 Symonds: Renaissance in Italy: The Revival of Learning (1877, reprinted London: John Murray, 1929), 246-249; and Renaissance in Italy: Italian Literature (1881, reprinted London: John Murray, 1927), 159-189, at 188 for “He presents.”
126 “You’ve always been”: very free translation from the Italian translations.
127 1466 or 1467: Girolamo Mancini, Vita de Leon Battista Alberti (Firenze: G. C. Sansoni, 1882), 459.
127 Alberti’s treatise: Latin original reprinted in Meister, Päpstlichen, 125-141; Charles J. Mendelsohn, “Bibliographical Note on the ‘De Cifris’ of Leone Battista Alberti,” Isis, XXXVIII (February, 1948), 48-51; translations by Mendelsohn, the part dealing with cryptanalysis in manuscript in Mendelsohn Collection, Rare Book Room, University of Pennsylvania Library, Philadelphia, and the part dealing with cipher disk in William F. Friedman, “Edgar Allan Poe: Cryptographer—Addendum,” Articles. In this article Friedman observed that Alberti “suggests a two-part arrangement of the contents of the code, thus deserving the credit for being first to describe (if not to invent) this important feature.” It is true that Alberti describes the two-part arrangement when he says: “It may be advisable for me to have two tables and for you likewise to have two; in one set the numerals will be arranged in order at the beginnings of the lines conveniently for the reader; in the other set the phrases will be alphabetically arranged under the headings of the letters so that they will not have to be looked up in various headings in the table and may be readily at hand for the writer.” But the purpose of a two-part arrangement is increased secrecy, and I do not think that Alberti was thinking of this. He did not specifically say that the numbers must stand in mixed order against the plaintext as he did for the ciphertext letters on his disk, while he specifically did refer to the convenience of the arrangement. It is difficult to assign motives at a range of half a millennium, and on principle I would prefer to rest upon purely objective evidence; but since the secrecy that is an essential element of cryptography is a human desire, motives must be weighed. As Friedman said, Alberti has described a two-part code (though not in thoroughly mixed order), but on the ground that he did not intend secrecy in making two code lists, I deny that he invented the two-part code, in the full sense of the term. The invention belongs to Antoine Rossignol.
130 “This man”: Symonds, Literature, 159.
130 Trithemius: Paul Chacornac, Grandeur et Adversité de Jean Trithème (Paris: Éditions Traditionelles, 1963); R. W. Seton-Watson, “The Abbot Trithemius,” in Tudor Studies, ed. R. W. Seton-Watson (London: Longmans, Green, 1924), 75-89; Thorndike, V, 438-439, 441, 606.
131 “first bibliographically minded scholar”: Theodore Besterman, The Beginnings of Systematic Bibliography (London: Oxford University Press, 1935), 6-9.
131 occult background for Trithemius: Frances A. Yates, Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1964), 6, 18, 84-85, 102.
131 ciphers of “Steganographia”: Chacornac, 137-139, 151-156.
131 third book of “Steganographia”: D. P. Walker, Spiritual and Demonic Magic from Ficino to Campanella, Studies of the Warburg Institute, No. 22, ed. G. Bing (London: Warburg Institute of the University of London, 1958), 86-90; Yates, 145-146, 270. Chacornac, 156-157, says that Book III does not appear to be authentic Trithemius because it oversteps the bounds set for the work in the Preface and because its style differs from that of the other two books. However, he is a great apologist for Trithemius, and without further proof, in the form of early manuscripts that do not contain Book III, or statements by Trithemius or other commentators, or a detailed explication of the text, I do not accept his assertion. No one else seems to have made it.
132 “Steganographia” on Index: Chacornac, 139.
133 dates of writing Polygraphiae: from dates given in the book itself.
133 publication of Polygraphiae: Chacornac, 168. Woodcut borrowed from Trithemius’ Liber octo questionum (Oppenheim, 1511). Chacornac says, 73, that it is the work of Hans Scheiffelein, a favorite student of Albrecht Dürer. Campbell Dodgson, Catalogue of Early German and Flemish Woodcuts Preserved in the Department of Prints of the British Museum (London: British Museum, 1903), 376, 405-406, gives an elaborate explanation of the woodcut without ever realizing that it was used in an earlier work (with the single slight change of a lamp into a crozier). This throws into doubt his attribution of the woodcut to Hans Springinklee, another student of Dü rer’s, and his statement that the book was actually printed in Basle by Adam Petri for Haselberg. He gives no sources or reasons for these statements.
133 540 pages: my examination of a copy in the Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève, Paris, from which no signatures are missing or repeated. The collation in Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 32-17914 is correct, except for its omission of the separately printed “Clavis Polygraphiae,” but then it inexplicably gives “300 leaves” for the total. One must beware of the confusion between the Polygraphiae and the Steganographia that exists in many bibliographies: Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 17-17876 states for the latter that “The first edition appeared Oppenheirn, 1518, under title: Polygraphiae libri sex.”
133 Collange: Polygraphie et Vniverselle escriture Cabalistique de M. I. Trithème Abbé (Paris: Jacques Kerver, 1561). Collange omits Book II and hence his book numbers do not coincide with Trithemius’ after Book I. He calls the Clavis Polygraphiae Book VI.
133 numbers of alphabets: my examination of the Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève copy.
135 contents of books: Chacornac, 163-167, correcting the numbers of his Books because he has, without saying so, depended upon Collange.
136 tabula recta: Polygraphiae, f. sig. Oij r.
136 HXPF GFMNCZ … : Polygraphiae, f. sig. Bvi r. For some reason, Mendelsohn, 118, gives a later and more complicated encipherment as an example of Trithemius’ first polyalphabetic system.
136 first letter-by-letter encipherment: Mendelsohn.
136 progressive key: Gaines, ch. 20.
137 putative Father of Cryptology: Gyldén suggests that the German tradition of emphasizing cryptography to the neglect of cryptanalysis poisoned the wells of German cryptology in World War I and left their ciphers at the mercy of the Allies; he traces German cryptology to Selenus, who does little more than comment on Trithemius. I think, however, that the reasons for the German emphasis on cryptography are to be found elsewhere than in Latin books which the later authors probably never read; likewise the reasons for the Allied successes.
137 Belaso: Meister, Päpstlichen, 36; Vigenère, 36r.
137 Belaso booklet: (Venice, 1553). Second edition, 1557. Third edition entitled Il Vero Modo di Scrivere in Cifra (Brassa: Iacobo Britanico, 1564). Sacco, Primato, §7; F. Wagner, “Studien zu einer Lehre von der Geheimschrift (Chifferkunste),” Archivalische Zeitschrift, XI (1886), 156-189, XII (1887), 1-29, XIII (1888), 8-44, at XII, 11-13.
137 first literal key: Mendelsohn, 119-120, 126; Sacco, §22b.
137 Porta: Derek J. Price, “Giambattista della Porta and his Natural Magic,” in John Baptista Porta’s Natural Magick (facsimile of first English edition, 1568), The Collector’s Series in Science (New York: Basic Books, 1957), v-ix; Biographie Universe He; Enciclopedia Italiana; Meister, Päpstlichen, 44; Yates, 380; Walker, 76, 158; George Sarton, Six Wi
ngs: Men of Science in the Renaissance (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1957), 84-88,94. Though Porta’s name is now given everywhere with the “della,” none of his books has it in his name, and he signed it without a “della.”
138 Lynxes: Among the accusations was one that they were writing in cipher; this was true, for examples of their ciphered correspondence with Johann Eck appear in Vatican ms. lat. 9684, ff. 23-26. 131-133, 140, 144-146. The ciphertext consists of symbols and the system appears to be monalphabetic.
138 De Furtivis: (Naples: Apud Ioan. Mariam Scotum, 1563), trans. Keith Preston (1916), in manuscript in Fabyan Collection of The Library of Congress, from which the English quotations are taken. Sacco, §144; Wagner, XII, 14-19. An extensive résumé of the 1602 edition is given in D*** (Pierre François Duchesne), Notice Historique sur la vie et les ouvrages de J.-B. Porta, gentilhomme napolitain (Paris: Poignée, An IX [1801]), 174-209.
138 quotations from De Furtivis: given by book (roman numerals) and chapter (Arabic numerals) to facilitate reference in the various editions: Rosicrucian, ii. 14; digraphic, ii. 13; threefold classification, ii.1; synonyms and misspellings, ii.6; conversion, ii.11; “deflowered,” ii.20; undivided monalphabetic, iii.9, 10, 11; probable word, iii.2; work techniques, iii.1; practical experience, iii.2; polyalphabetic system, ii.16.
142 polyalphabetic solution: The disk solution is outlined in iii.16 and illustrated with an example in iii.17, with suggestions for solving systems without word divisions or with nulls at iii.18-20. The 1602 edition solution is in its ii.16. Charles J. Mendelsohn, “The Earliest Solution of a Multiple Alphabet Cipher Written with the Use of a Key,” Articles.
142 pirated edition: A. W. Pollard and G. R. Redgrave, A Short-Title Catalog of Books Printed in England, Scotland, and Ireland, and of English Books Printed Abroad 1475-1640 (London: Bibliographical Society, 1926), No. 20118a.
143 “He was, in my opinion”: Mendelsohn, 113.
143 Cardano: Oystein Ore, Cardano, the Gambling Scholar (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1953), ch. 1. De subtilitate libri xxi (Norimbergae: apud J. Petreium, 1550); De rerum varietate libri xvii (Basilae: per H. Petri, 1557).
144 Cardano’s cryptology: Charles J. Mendelsohn, “Cardano on Cryptography,” Scripta Mathematica, VI (October, 1939), 157-168.
145 Vigenère: Denyse Métral, Blaise de Vigenère: Archéologue et Critique d’Art (Paris: Librairie E. Droz, 1939), 6-31, 57-69; Mendelsohn, 103-107.
146 2,000 ecus: Vigenère, 210r.
146 Traicté des Comètes: White, Warfare of Science with Theology, 197.
146 Traicté des Chiffres: Sacco, §145; Sacco, Primato, 28-32; Wagner, 23-28.
146 “un inestimable”: 12r.
146 Japanese ideograms: Galland, 193.
146 “All the things in the world”: 53v-54r. Pascal quoted in E. Littré, Dictionnaire de la Langue Française (1863), at “chiffre.”
146 Pancatuccio: 197r-199r, translation at Mendelsohn, 104-105.
147 field of stars: plate following 258v.
147 key methods and autokey: 48v-50r; Mendelsohn, 127-129.
148 standard system: Mendelsohn, 107-109; Gaines, Wolfe, Givierge, etc.
148 “impossible of translation”: “A New Cipher Code,” Scientific American Supplement, LXXXIII (January 27, 1917), 61, taken from the Proceedings of the Engineers’ Club of Philadelphia.
148 Argenti solution: Meister, Päpstlichen, 294-295; Mendelsohn, “Earliest Solution.”
150 Callières: in chapter on ciphers.
150 anonymous Brussels “Traitté”: H. Seligmann, “Un Traité de Déchiffrement du XVIIe Siecle,” Revue des Bibliothèques et Archives de Belgique, VI (1908), 1-19, at 12, 15-18.
151 Jesuit polyalphabetic: Lohmann Villena, “Cifras y claves indianas.”
151 Caetano’s cipher: Meister, Päpstlichen. It is my assumption that the cipher was the one broken by Chorrin.
151 Chorrin: Eugene Vaillé, Le Cabinet Noir (Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1950), 47, quoting Agrippa d’Aubigné.
151 Elizabethan ciphers: Great Britain, Public Record Office, State Papers 106/ 1-3 at 106/1 ref. 2 for Asheley; at 106/1 ref. 27, 106/2 ref. 106, 106/3 refs. 160 and 186 for Porta-like tableaux; at 106/3 ref. 187 for sliding card cipher. Photographs of the latter two in Schooling (January) at No. 5 and (February) at No. 19.
152 Cospi: quoted in Kerckhoffs.
152 Brussels writer flounders: Seligmann, 12-15.
152 allegiance to Spain: Of the author of the treatise: Seligmann, 6; Devos, 72. Of Martin: During the years (1652-1658) when Retz was using the cipher and Condé (Louis II of Bourbon) was employing Martin, Condé was in the Low Countries fighting as a general in the armies of Spain against his own monarch, Louis XIV. Thus, in serving Condé at this time, Martin was serving Spain, not France. The Biographie Rationale of the Académie Royale de Belgique does not list any cryptologic feats among its contemporary Martins, Martens, Martinis, etc.
152 Retz: Mémoires in Oeuvres, eds. A. Feillet and J. Gourdault (Paris: Librairie Hachette & Cie., 1876), IV, 515-518.
152 in Brussels, at Utrecht: Retz, note 1, p. 518, cites Joly as saying in his Mémoires that when Retz went to visit Condé in Brussels in 1658, Retz was living in Holland, mostly at Utrecht. Joly’s Mémoires do not seem to refer to the solution.
153 used cipher six years: Retz, 334, refers to his use of the indecipherable cipher with La Palatine in September, 1652.
153 Casanova: Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, Vénitien, Histoire de Ma Vie (Wiesbaden and Paris: F. A. Brockhaus and Plon, 1960), III, 107, 115-116; William F. Friedman, “Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, Cryptologist,” Casanova Gleanings, IV (1961), 1-12.
153 solutions in early 1800s: by Charles Babbage, for example. See Babbage in text.
154 lesser writings: Sacco, §147.
154 Silvestri: Meister, Päpstlichen, 31-32; Sacco, §142; Sacco, Primato, 6; Wagner, XII, 1-9.
154 Cryptomenytices: (Luneberg: Sternen bibliopolarum).
154 Augustus’ ancestry: Lewis Melville, The First George in Hanover and England (London: Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons, 1908), genealogical table in vol. I. For his life, Biographie Universelle; Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie.
154 book: a translation by Dr. John W. H. Walden is in the Fabyan Collection of The Library of Congress. Quotation and “sportive poem” from preface. See also Wagner, XI, 174-178, Chacornac, 141-142, and Charles P. Bowditch, The Connection of Francis Bacon with the First Folio of Shakespeare’s Plays and with the Books on Cipher of his Time (Cambridge: The University Press, 1910), 13-15, for letters of Augustus suggesting that his likeness and that of Trithemius be in title-page engraving.
154 Kircher: Catholic Encyclopaedia; Galland, 102-103; George E. McCracken, “Athanasius Kircher’s Universal Polygraphy,” Isis, XXXIX (November, 1948), 215-228; Wagner, XI, 178-181.
154 Schott: Catholic Encyclopaedia; Galland, 163-164; Thorndike, VII, 591, 598; Wagner, XI, 181-184.
155 Mercury: (London: I. Norton). Wagner, XIII, 9-12.
155 Wilkins: DNB; “lustie, …” from John Aubrey, Brief Lives.
155 words: Wilkins, 14; Oxford New English Dictionary.
155 geometrical ciphers: Wilkins, 93-94.
155 Cryptomenytices Patefacta: (London: D. Brown).
155 Falconer’s life: Untitled genealogical book in New York Public Library, catalogued as by Thomas Falconer, marked on spine as “Falconer’s Writings” (London, 1866), 3-5. This seems to be source for Biographie Universelle reference cited by Galland, 62. Falconer is not listed in the Index of F. M. G. Higham’s King James II, or The Memoirs of James II: His Campaigns as Duke of York, 1652-1660, trans. A. Lytton Sells (Bloomington, Ind.: Indiana University Press, 1962), or in standard histories and encyclopedias. The British Museum General Catalog of Printed Books lists the author of Cryptomenytices Patefacta separately from an approximately contemporaneous John Falconer, a Jesuit biographed in DNB.
155 polyalphabetic: 20-24.
155 ke
yed columnar: 62.
Chapter 5 THE ERA OF THE BLACK CHAMBERS
157 Réalmont siege: Ch. Pradel, ed., “Mémoires de Jean Olès sur la dernière guerre du due de Rohan, 1627-1628,” Revue Historique, Scientifique et Littéraire du Département du Tarn, XXIV (1907), 1-25, 138-162, at 155-157.
157 Rossignol’s role: [Charles] Perrault, Les hommes illustres qui ont paru en France pendant ce siècle (Paris: Antoine Dezallier, 1696), 57-58 at 57.
157 La Rochelle: Perrault, 57; Tallement des Réaux, Les Historiettes, Bibliothèque de la Pléiade (Paris: Librairie Gallimard, 1960), in chapter on Richelieu, I, 256-258 at 256; Bois-Robert, Épistres en Vers, Maurice Cauchie, ed., Société des Textes Français Modernes (Paris: Librairie Hachette, 1921), I, note at 82, which cites Archives des Affaires Étrangères, Mém. et doc: France, 806, f. 218v, for his appointment. For surrender: Cambridge Modern History, IV, 133.
158 Juvisy: Hubert Arvengas, “Antoine Rossignol et le grand Chiffre de Louis XIV,” Bulletin de la Société des Sciences, Arts et Belles-Lettres du Tarn, XVI (new series) (January-December, 1955), 511-516, at 514-515; personal visit, June 1966, to the chateau, now the city hall of Juvisysur-Orge.
158 Hesdin, reticence, no solutions: Tallement, I, 256-258. Bazeries, at 45, thinks that Tallement is wrong in his charge of no solution, but concedes, at 47, that he could find none of Rossignol’s cryptanalyses in the archives. However, he seems not to have investigated the archives of the Ministère des Affaires Étrangères, in which—to take one volume of many—Correspondance Politique, Angleterre, 47, contains much correspondence of 1638-1639 between Charles I and Britain’s ambassadors in England. This was almost certainly intercepted and cryptanalyzed, probably by Rossignol, although the documents bear no annotations specifying their provenance.