01 The letter
| Shelfmark | BnF Dupuy 61 · Villeroy, f258r |
|---|---|
| Sender | M. de Villeroy |
| Recipient | M. de La Verrière |
| Date | 19 July; year not written |
| Language | French |
| Report status | 2/2 pages transcribed; Deciphered |
| Ciphertext | 1164 elements, 1147 identified (98.5%) |
02 The key
127 codes, 98 homophones, 29 in nomenclature; unmarked numbers ≥ 121 are nulls
- Key elsewhere
- Volume unknown: original key image in the local Nevers archive. Matches 82 entries used in the numerical letter on f258r.
03 The decipherment
f258r
Monsieur, je ne sçay ce que vous pensez faire d’attendre si long temps à faire partir ceux qu[i] doivent aller à Rome. On s’abuze si on pense de pouvoir faire autrement, et ces longueurs prejudicient infiniment, et semble par là qu’on ne desire qu’on effectue […]
Translation. Sir, I do not know what you think you will achieve by waiting so long to send off those who must go to Rome. It is a mistake to think that things can be done otherwise; these delays cause immense harm, and make it appear that there is no desire to carry out […]
04 Plaintext and other sources
Where a decipherment or clear copy already existed, as George Lasry gives it:
- Interlinear plaintext
- Numerical letter only: Historical interlinear decipherment on f258r,colourPDF527/Gallica525.
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 A. Image checked: https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b103164206/f525.item
- Folio matches the report: yes; cipher present: yes
- What we checked: f258r all-numeric letter "A Monsieur de la Verriere" with contemporary interlinear decipherment: "Monsieur je ne scay ce que vous pensez de l attendre si long temps a faire partir ceux qui doivent aller a Rome. On s abuze si on pense de pouvoir faire autrement ... longueurs prejudicient infiniment" = his excerpt; numbers not re-decoded by me from his key
- Verdict: confirmed (method key recovered based on adjacent plaintext, extent complete). The check is a sample, not a re-solution.
- Notes: Foot note "Du chiffre de Monsieur de La Verriere"; docket "Depesche de M. de Villeroy a M. de Verriere". Reading essentially exists interlinearly (could be counted as read from existing decipherment).
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. 53; his other items are listed on his contributor card.
- The working folder:
targets/villeroy258/(his entry as extracted from the report, our spot-check,profile.json).