I was exhausted when I woke up this morning (thanks to a teething nine-month-old) but then I saw this, and felt ready to embrace the day. It’s a free e-book called Glossodahlia. On its pages, strange and wonderful plants blossom from battered, retro tins and cans. The flowers are taken from the pages of the Voynich manuscript, a 500-year-old text filled with drawings and writings in a mysterious language that is either a hoax, or one of the most ingenious codes ever.
Here’s how author Tarek Chemaly describes his book:
The Voynich manuscript has been decoded. Its flowers have given up their secret. They speak in tongues – glossolalia. And they tell stories of brokenhearted cosmic lovers and of a retired intergalactic bureaucrat as she tends to her garden once baking is done.
I love how Chemaly mixes the mystery and romance of a faraway galaxy with the comforting smell of home. It makes me think that the human imagination is a wonderful thing.
[Thanks to the blog Cipher Mysteries, where I saw the link to Glossodahlia.]
I have heard of the Voynich manuscript (very peculiar!), thanks, I will take a look at this.