In response to a number of requests, here's the original Verse 70, Jestyn's notation in Alf Boxall's copy of the Rubaiyat. I have added all of the images taken, some of which you will see have been highlighted to show just where the micro writing is to be found. You should be able to note the 'whispy' appearance of the micro written characters, this is typical of lightly written letters of this size. I have studied micro writing extensively and, in fact, am recognised as an expert and a practitioner, I undertake commissions and work in this field.
A couple of tips, firstly when viewing these images it is best to have your screen settings at the high resolution and if printing them out you should ensure that your printer is set to high quality/photo image.
But first, here's a link to a copy of the Rubaiyat which is believed to be of the same series as that found with the Somerton Man..
Courage & Friendship Version Rubaiyat of Omar Khayam
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Comparison of the letter R from Verse 70 and the code page. This was carefully executed and scaled such that they are both in the same ratio of size. You may note the outlines of micro letters within the code page 'R'
More Images Added 1st July 2015
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So to be clear, is what we see in your above examples micro writing or micro code. The reason I ask is, if it is micro writing, what does it say? Presumably it would be a simply case of reading it for it to make sense. If it is micro code, then has any of it been deciphered? I can't believe that after all this time, with so much of the micro code evident and the attention this case has received, it would have been deciphered by now.
ReplyDeletePART 1.
ReplyDeleteApologies for the delay in responding. What you see above as you know, is from the inscription page of what has come to be known as the 'Boxall Rubaiyat or ROK'. Before we start, I'd like to make it very clear that I do not see Alf or Jess for that matter acting an any way against Australian interests, quite the opposite in fact. More on that later.
First, some background.
I have spent most of my time on the so called Somerton Man Code page which has turned up some interesting words and names derived from the micro code found there. I will post some links on the relative posts shortly. In that case, having tested some of the code strings, it looks like the 'Hill Cipher' was used, you can read the technical stuff here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hill_cipher#:~:text=In%20classical%20cryptography%2C%20the%20Hill,than%20three%20symbols%20at%20once.
You can also make use of an online tool here:
https://www.dcode.fr/acrostic-extraction
With the latter, just type in the word HILL into the search box and it will give you the link to exact tool..
Using that tool on the code found in the two crossed lines at the centre of the code page I found some interesting words that cropped up, one of which was the name GOLOS. You can read more on Jacob Golos here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_Golos
You will see that Mr. Golos was a key player with links to the 'Enormoz' (Manhattan Atom Bomb) project, Elizabeth Bentley and other Atom Spy players. His expertise was in sourcing high quality forged identity documents. Mr.Golos died in New York of a heart attack, in November 1943. That date is important because elsewhere on the code page a plain language decrypt of the movement of ships on Sydney Harbour was traced to March 1943. That gives us a possible start date for the entire code page.
PART 2.
ReplyDeleteTHE BOXALL ROK
Now, to the Boxall ROK. 'Jestyn' started her nursing career at Sydney's RNSH in 1942
The images of that book that I have came initially from Professor Abbott and then I was very fortunate to receive a. 'Open Pages' copy from Gerry Feltus. This high resolution image shows both the inscription page and the Title page of the book. My view is that this is code as I can find no plain language words as such, what is clearly present in the typed words and the handwritten words are sets of mostly numbers with some letters interspersed.
I am not a code expert as such but have spent a some years reading up on the subject of Cold War clandestine communications and now have at least some knowledge in the field. The point here is that codes created 'in the field' so to speak where very different to those that formed part of the larger 'official' communications networks employed by the Soviets and others. For example the Venona cables used by the Soviets in those years. These codes had to be relatively simple and easy to use such that messages could be encoded and written down quickly prior to sending or passing on and similarly, easy to take down on receipt.
So, what do we have in the Boxall ROK? Given that the start date for Jestyn's involvement was post 1942 and likely early 1943, part of what we see in my view is some practice work, testing the system. Accordingly there may be some parcels of code that have no meaning. The title page of the book contains a great deal of code some of which will be practice and some a message exchange.
The handwritten inscription is a different matter, I suspect that it has some meaning and that it also marked the end of a specific project or operation being undertaken between Australian Military Intelligence and the agent in the field being Jestyn. (If you recall she handed the Book to Alf at their last known meeting at the Clifton Gardens Hotel in August 1945) Whilst I have done some work on the book, it is not complete but it will be included in the DANETTA CODE book due for release shortly.
Sadly there is no one in the Somerton Man space who have the ability to assist in decoding what has been found. This would be the only blog in the space with others being more 'forum' in style and mostly dominated by lower level chats and discussions on regurgitated materials. In one case I see that they appear to be busy organising a defence to defamation claims
I am sorry that I can't be of more help to you at this time, if you would like to send me your email or FB page I would be happy to continue this discussion.