01 The letter
| Shelfmark | BnF Français 3822 |
|---|---|
| Recipient | Bertelot (catalogue item73) |
| Language | French |
| Report status | 2/5 pages transcribed; 1/5 pages deciphered |
| Ciphertext | 1,646 elements, 686 identified; 10 further groups with unresolved boundaries |
02 The key
121 mapped forms: 35 letter signs and 86 in nomenclature
03 The decipherment
f133r, three complete manuscript lines
Il n’y a point de doubte que S.A. ne ce sente griefvement offensé du refus faict de la levée des deux mil hommes sans congé ce qui n’est maintenant à propos. Regardez de reparer cela vous excusant…
Translation. There is no doubt that His Highness feels deeply offended by the refusal concerning the levy of the two thousand men without leave—something that is not appropriate at present. See that you put this right by excusing yourself…
04 Plaintext and other sources
Where a decipherment or clear copy already existed, as George Lasry gives it:
- Interlinear plaintext
- Contemporary interlinear plaintext on the same manuscript pages, ff132r–134v.
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: none (no Gallica link in dossier; fr. 3822 ark not available offline)
- Folio matches the report: unclear; cipher present: yes
- What we checked: his f133r crop: interlinear "Il ny a point de doute que S.A. ne se sente griefvement offense du refus faict de la levee des deux mil hommes sans conge ce qui nest maintenant a propos" = his excerpt; mixed code/letter cipher not decoded independently
- Verdict: partly confirmed (method key recovered based on adjacent plaintext, extent partial). The check is a sample, not a re-solution.
- Notes: 1/5 pages deciphered, 686/1646 identified. Sender not given; recipient Bertelot. Date not given (Nemours-Savoy dispute, c.1580s?).
06 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. 88; his other items are listed on his contributor card.
- The working folder:
targets/bertelot/(his entry as extracted from the report, our spot-check,profile.json).