01 The letter
| Shelfmark | BnF Français 3516 · Brulart de Berny, f132r |
|---|---|
| Sender | Brulart de Berny |
| Recipient | Pierre Jeannin |
| Date | 26 July 1607 |
| Language | French |
| Report status | Transcribed; Deciphered |
| Ciphertext | 266 elements, 255 identified (95.9%). |
02 The key
81 symbols: 42 letter forms, 38 in nomenclature, 1 cancellation sign.
03 The decipherment
f132r, cipher lines 7–9
Aucun fondement que de quelques advis qui leur viennent du lieu où vous estes, où sans doute il y a bien de la corruption. Je ne manqueray, s’il se presente chose dig[ne]…
Translation. No foundation other than a few reports reaching them from where you are, where there is undoubtedly much corruption. I shall not fail, if anything worthy arises…
04 Plaintext and other sources
Where a decipherment or clear copy already existed, as George Lasry gives it:
- Literal plaintext
- f132r: Literal interlinear decipherment accompanies the letter. — Same page
- Interlinear plaintext
- Literal interlinear plaintext on f132r; aligned to recover the 81-value key, including cancellation of the preceding element.
- Plaintext elsewhere
- Jeannin (1875), p. 104. Published text for comparison in the readable file.
05 Our check
This result is George Lasry’s. This project did not re-solve the cipher: it checked one sample against the Gallica image and recorded what it found.
- Batch B. Image checked: https://openapi.bnf.fr/iiif/image/v3/ark:/12148/btv1b9059630p/f227/full/1600,/0/default.jpg
- Folio matches the report: yes; cipher present: yes
- What we checked: f132r (canvas 227 of fr. 3516; no link in dossier) cipher lines 7-9: interlinear "aucun fondement que de quelques advis qui leur viennent du lieu ou vous estes, ou sans doute il y a bien de la corruption. de ne manqueray sil se presente chose digne de" = his excerpt; signed Brulart de Berny, Brussels 26 July 1607; address to Jeannin on f228
- Verdict: confirmed (method key recovered based on adjacent plaintext, extent complete). The check is a sample, not a re-solution.
- Notes: Fully interlined; also printed in Jeannin (1875) p. 104. 95.9% identified.
06 Notes and corrections
Fr. 3516, image 227. The letter is printed in Jeannin, Négociations (1875), p. 104.
07 Sources
- George Lasry, with ChatGPT Astra 6 and Anthropic Opus 5.5, BnF cipher research, 10 October 2026 (sent to Daniel Bourdeau on 13 October 2026 for publication here), p. 118; his other items are listed on his contributor card.
- Fr. 3516 f132r, image 227 (no link in the report)
- image checked in the spot-check
- The working folder:
targets/berny1607/(his entry as extracted from the report, our spot-check,profile.json).