01 The letter
| Shelfmark | BnF Français 3516 · La Boderie, f59r–60v |
|---|---|
| Sender | La Boderie |
| Recipient | Pierre Jeannin |
| Date | 7 June1608 |
| Language | French |
| Report status | 4/4 pages transcribed; 3/4 cipher pages deciphered; 1 more in part |
| Ciphertext | 1023 elements,923 identified (90.2%). |
02 The key
112 symbols:57 letter signs,53 word or syllable codes,2 controls.
03 The decipherment
f59v, four full cipher lines
assez mal fondees, de sorte que tant s’en faut que je me promette rien de bien de ce commerage. J’ai peur qu’il ne produise que du mespris de part et d’autre, et de part et d’autre il semble que on y chemine que par maniere d’acquit.
Translation. Quite ill-founded, so that I am far from expecting any good from this godparent relationship. I fear that it will produce only contempt on both sides, and on both sides it seems that people are merely going through the motions.
04 Plaintext and other sources
Where a decipherment or clear copy already existed, as George Lasry gives it:
- Interlinear plaintext
- Historical interlinear plaintext on ff59r–60v.
- Plaintext elsewhere
- Corresponding published letter in Jeannin (1875), pp.383–384. · Jeannin (1875)
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/f103/pct:20,3,80,40/1800,/0/default.jpg
- Folio matches the report: yes; cipher present: yes
- What we checked: f59v (canvas 103 of fr. 3516, same volume as jeannin1607; his link was archive.org): interlinear "assez mal fondees de sorte que tant sen fault que je me promette rien de bien de ce commerage. Jay peur quil ne produise que du mespris de part et dautre, comme de part et dautre il semble quon y chemine que par maniere dacquit" = his excerpt
- Verdict: confirmed (method key recovered based on adjacent plaintext, extent partial). The check is a sample, not a re-solution.
- Notes: Letter printed in Jeannin, Negociations (1875) pp. 383-384, so text already published; 90.2% of elements identified. His excerpt omits "comme".
06 Notes and corrections
Fr. 3516, image 103. The letter is printed in Jeannin, Négociations (1875), pp. 383–384. Lasry's excerpt leaves out one word ("comme").
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. 108; his other items are listed on his contributor card.
- Fr. 3516 f59v, image 103 (the report links the printed edition on archive.org)
- image checked in the spot-check
- The working folder:
targets/laboderie1608/(his entry as extracted from the report, our spot-check,profile.json).