01 The letter
| Shelfmark | BnF Clairambault 460 · barred letters and numerals, pp285– |
|---|---|
| Sender | Several correspondents; Chamilly and Barrière named in headings |
| Recipient | The Prince in several headings; another damaged heading names a duke |
| Date | 18, 19 and 26 August; year not visible in this source extract |
| Language | French |
| Report status | 3/3 pages transcribed; 3/3 pages deciphered |
| Ciphertext | 1,218 visible elements, 1,139 identified; additional ciphertext hidden or damaged |
02 The key
94 symbols/codes: 28 letter forms, 58 syllables, 1 word code, 7 nulls
03 The decipherment
p285, three complete cipher rows
Que la moitié de l’argent que Vre Al a ordonné que l’on me donna, ce qui est la seulle cause de ce que je nay pas esté il y a six semaine en chemin pour vous aller…
Translation. …the half of the money that Your Highness ordered to be given to me, which is the sole reason why I did not set out six weeks ago to come to you…
04 Plaintext and other sources
Where a decipherment or clear copy already existed, as George Lasry gives it:
- Interlinear plaintext
- Interlinear plaintext on the same pages, pp285–287.
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; Clairambault 460 ark not resolvable offline)
- Folio matches the report: unclear; cipher present: yes
- What we checked: his p285 crop: contemporary interlinear "que la moitie de largent que Vre Al a ordonne que lon me donna ce qui est la seulle cause de ce que je nay pas este il y a six semaine en chemin pour vous aller" = his excerpt; barred-letter cipher not decoded by me
- Verdict: partly confirmed (method key recovered based on adjacent plaintext, extent partial). The check is a sample, not a re-solution.
- Notes: 1,139/1,218 visible (93.5%), more ciphertext hidden or damaged. Fronde letters to the Prince (Conde), Chamilly/Barriere; year not shown (likely 1651-52). Shares volume with clair460num.
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. 114; his other items are listed on his contributor card.
- The working folder:
targets/clair460bar/(his entry as extracted from the report, our spot-check,profile.json).