Siena R4794 (unnumbered): the artillery slip

r4794.txt

# R4794 (Concistoro_2308_48), unnumbered slip (faint pencil "5" in left margin), 6 lines, all cipher.
# Transcribed 24 Sept 2026 from decode/img/IMG_R4794_I27929_P.jpg via the glyph sheet crops/r4794g/sheet.png.
# Legend: W.=omega with dot; J=reversed C with a tail (Ͻ-); C.=C with dot; C=plain C; P=thorn þ; U.=U closed with dot;
# U=U without dot; PI=Π (with dot); S=σ-like (u with bar on top); T; V.=V with dot above; R3=Э (round reversed E);
# B=box with bar ⊟; TH=Θ; E.=E with dot; E3=reversed square E with dot (Ǝ·); D=d with stroke; M=m-shaped arch ɱ;
# A=alpha α; O=closed O; L=⊥; LT=<; N.=∩ with dot; N=∩ plain; LAM.=Λ with dot; LAM=Λ plain; SH=Ш; G=small loop
# with bar (Ձ); RC=reversed C without tail (Ↄ); K=⊢ (bar with right stroke); R=Я; I=reversed L with top stroke (Ɪ);
# H4=Ч; 7, 7.=seven (with dot), digits 2 4 6.
W. J C. P U. PI S T V. R3 B TH J E. D M A E3 J O L T C. LT J M 4 4 N. J 2 6
P R3 E. J 7 S LAM. A D LAM PI LAM. E. E3 A R3 U. SH G LAM E. LAM. RC M A C. S K R E. J U. LAM. PI
LAM A S J K U. LAM. S V. A PI N. C S E3 J M V. R3 A U. N R3 I S U. N LAM. 6 7
LT M 7. PI M P U. N LAM J S V. A LAM E. H4 J R S LAM S R3 L M G LAM S E3 R3
U. N LAM PI LAM. E. E3 A R3 E. J U S LAM. A J LAM E. J D S E3 LAM S N. J S LAM. U. LAM. K
V. A LAM E. R3 S E3 LAM 7 4 N. J 2 6

reading.txt

# No. 5? (R4794): George Lasry's decipherment, verbatim from his report of 17 Oct 2026 (p. 31).
# Line breaks follow the PDF text layer, not the manuscript.

Di alcuni pezzi [d']i artigliaria 44 di 26. Le Signorie Vostre, come so, faranno si governin con prudentia,
perché ancho 67 ha qualche impressio[n], non è la mente che Vostre Signorie s'intendino col presente 74
di 26.

lasry_report.md

# George Lasry's report: the section on this piece, verbatim

Source: George Lasry, "The cipher documents of Concistoro 2308, fasc. 2" (17 Oct 2026), consolidated report sent by email to Daniel Bourdeau; pp. 31-32. Text extracted from the PDF page by page with PyMuPDF, unchanged (line breaks as in the PDF text layer). The key figure and the manuscript crop are images in the PDF: `key_lasry.jpg` here, `docs/siena5_key.jpg` and `docs/siena5_lead.jpg`. The report has no separate appendix text for this piece beyond what is below (the full decipherment and translation are in the section).

## Entry in the report's contents (p. 2)

```
• No. 5? = R4794
 
  — 16th century, 165 symbols — solved ciphertext-only by Lasry with CTTS and Claude
```

## The section

```
[report page 31]

No. 5 (R4794): a slip wholly in cipher — pieces of artillery, prudence, an 
unnamed [67]
Status. Solved (the four number codes unidentified). 15–17 October 2026, by George Lasry with CTTS and
Claude: transcription by Claude, refined by the author in CTTS; initial key from CTTS cryptanalysis (23 values),
corrected and completed by Claude with crib guessing and dragging.
References
• Archivio di Stato di Siena, Concistoro 2308, fasc. 2 (Lettere in cifra), no. 5
• DECODE record R4794 (Concistoro_2308_48), https://de-crypt.org/decrypt-web/RecordsView/4794
Ciphertext
165 cipher symbols — 160 letter signs and 5 number codes (26 twice, 44, 67, 74) — in six lines on a narrow
slip, with no clear text at all.
Key
35 distinct letter signs plus four number codes. Homophonic substitution laid out as a pigpen-like grid: the
alphabet is cut into blocks of four letters, each block is written with one family of frames (open angles, round
arches, square brackets, T-shapes) and a dot moves the same frame to another block of four, so that the
frames reading e, f, g, h without a dot read o, p, q, r with one; a dozen free symbols serve as extra
homophones for the commonest letters, the numbers form a small nomenclator for places, titles and
persons, and there are no word dividers.
Signs as cut from the manuscript, with their number of occurrences; homophones stand under their letter.
Decryption
The whole slip is in cipher and therefore entirely in bold; number codes stand in brackets; [d'] and [n] are supplied where the
encipherer slipped.
Di alcuni pezzi [d']i artigliaria 44 di 26. Le Signorie Vostre, come so, faranno si governin con prudentia,
perché ancho 67 ha qualche impressio[n], non è la mente che Vostre Signorie s'intendino col presente 74
di 26.
Concerning some pieces of artillery of 44 of 26. Your Lordships, as I know, will see to it that matters are
handled with prudence, because 67 too has some suspicion (impressione); it is not the intention that Your
Lordships should come to an understanding with the present 74 of 26.


[report page 32]

Contents
From: unknown
To: “le Signorie Vostre” — a Signoria, presumably Siena
Place: unknown
Date: 16th century — orthography (artigliaria, ancho, prudentia) and the numbered nomenclator; unverified
The slip is a short enciphered note, perhaps a postscript or an instruction, about some pieces of artillery
belonging to 44 of 26. The writer trusts that Their Lordships, as he knows, will see that the matter is handled
with prudence, since 67 too has some suspicion of it; and he adds that it is not intended that Their Lordships
should come to an understanding with the present 74 of 26. Every word is in cipher; two slips of the
encipherer (a wrong sign where d' is expected, a letter dropped in impressione non è) are corrected in
brackets, and the first letter (D) and the s of impressione rest on single signs read from context.
Historical context and dating
Little can be said: the slip carries no clear text, sender, address or date. Its Tuscan spellings (artigliaria,
ancho, prudentia, governin), the numbered nomenclator and the geometric hand point to the 16th century,
as does DECODE's dating (1500–1599); no key preserved in Concistoro 2308 reads it, though two Sienese
pigpen-type keys of about 1530–55 (DECODE R4776, R4786) share its style. The addressee is a Signoria,
presumably Siena; the writer reports on a foreign lord's artillery and warns against a deal with his present
envoy — but who 26, 44, 67 and 74 are cannot be known without the lost key.
Open points. Unidentified: the number codes 26 (a place or state, twice in “di 26”), 44 and 74 (titles or
offices?) and 67 (a person or power).
```

translation.txt

# No. 5? (R4794): George Lasry's translation, verbatim from his report of 17 Oct 2026 (p. 31).
# Line breaks follow the PDF text layer, not the manuscript.

Concerning some pieces of artillery of 44 of 26. Your Lordships, as I know, will see to it that matters are
handled with prudence, because 67 too has some suspicion (impressione); it is not the intention that Your
Lordships should come to an understanding with the present 74 of 26.