01 The letter
| Shelfmark | BnF Français 22225 |
|---|---|
| Sender | Louis-Sauveur, marquis de Villeneuve |
| Recipient | Jean Otter |
| Date | 29 June and 19 August 1737 |
| Language | French |
| Report status | 6/6 pages transcribed; 5/5 cipher pages deciphered |
| Ciphertext | 815 elements, 811 identified (99.5%) |
02 The key
323 codes: 46 letter signs, 273 in nomenclature, 4 unidentified; 27 structurally inferred The key was recovered from the ciphertext alone.
03 The decipherment
f145v — beginning of the excerpt; f146r — cipher continuation and cleartext
J’ay fait icy le plu[s] de caresses que j’ay pu à Kerim Bey ; & quoique je n’aye pu avoir avec luy aucune conférence, j’ay lieu d’estre content des disposition favorables qu’il a fait paroître pour notre nation au personnes qui ont été luy parler de ma part. Il faut continuer de cultiver son amitié et luy témoigner la satisfaction que j’ay des marques qu’il m’a donné de la sienne.
Translation. I have shown Kerim Bey as much favour as I could. Although I have been unable to confer with him, I have reason to be pleased with the favourable disposition toward our nation that he showed to the people who spoke to him on my behalf. You must continue to cultivate his friendship and tell him how pleased I am with the signs he has given me of his own.
f145v
l’avenir un consul à Ispahan. Le raport que vous nous faires de ce que vous aures pu decourvrir des disposition de ce prince à ce sujet doit estre accompagné d’un[e] relation exacte & circonstanciee de la situation des affaires de Perse & de quelques refflection mesme sur le tour que vous pouves prévoir qu’elle prendront, pour eviter que les demarches que [le] Roy pourroit faire en cette occasion ne nous missent en conpromis
Translation. […] in future? a consul at Isfahan. Your report on what you have been able to discover about this prince’s intentions on that subject must be accompanied by an accurate? and detailed? account of the state of affairs in Persia, and some? reflections? on the course you can? foresee they will take, so that any steps the King might take on this occasion do not compromise us.
f143v — five completecipherlines
Je vous fis conn[oistre] avant votre depart d’icy qu’il conviendroit au intérêt de la France de retablir le commerce que nous avions autrefois en Perse. Cette idée, qui ne venoit allors que de moy, me paroît avoir esté goutée.
Translation. Before you left here I made [known] to you that it would be in France’s interest to re-establish the trade we formerly had in Persia. This idea, which then came only from me, seems to have been welcomed.
04 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 A. Image checked: https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b525150814/f310.item
- Folio matches the report: yes; cipher present: yes
- What we checked: f143r = "a Constantinople ce 29 juin 1737", to M. Otter, clear opening; cipher sample from his f145v crop "287.227.288.320.419.138" -> 287 jay, 227 fait, ..., 138 de per his key table, consistent with "J ay fait icy le plu[s] de"; middle groups (288,320,419) on key pages not checked
- Verdict: confirmed (method key recovered from ciphertext-only, extent complete). The check is a sample, not a re-solution.
- Notes: Large 2-part-ish nomenclator (323 codes); 27 codes structurally inferred. Otter = Jean Otter, orientalist sent to Persia.
05 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. 12; his other items are listed on his contributor card.
- The working folder:
targets/villeneuve1737/(his entry as extracted from the report, our spot-check,profile.json).