Monograms & Ciphers

ROYAL CIPHER
DESIGNED AND DRAWN BY A. A. TURBAYNE AND OTHER MEMBERS OF THE CARLTON STUDIO
LONDON T. C. & E. C. JACK & EDINBURGH

Now the letters AA have only one reading; two different letters, AB, can be read in two ways; while AAB can be read in three ways; and ABC, or any three different letters, can be placed to read in six ways.
A complete series of designs, AA, AB, BA, AC, CA, to ZZ, would run to 676 devices; add to this a series with a repeated letter, which would be the next in order, giving one reading only, AAB, BBA, etc., of which there are 650, and we get 1326 combinations. This would require, if carried out with nine designs on a plate, 147 plates. Our book was not to exceed 135 plates, and in addition to as complete a series as possible of two-letter designs, there were to be included some plates of sacred devices, designs of three different letters, and other matter which would make a work of practical use.
By limiting the number of combinations containing the I and J, and the O and Q, which can easily be made interchangeable in the working, and giving but a single reading of most of the devices containing the letters X, Y, Z, which will be the least used, I have been able to present a good working selection of two letters and a repeated letter in 113 plates.
Three different letters, as I have stated, can be read in six ways. Take, for instance, the first three letters of the alphabet, and we have—
Add a fourth letter to the three, and we have four times six, or twenty-four readings, as follows:—

It will thus be seen that books advertised as made up of three-and four-letter combinations must be very fragmentary, as anything like a complete work of these units would run to an enormous length.
Now let us see what a work of three-letter designs would mean. ABC, ABD, etc., giving an alphabet of one reading only, would run to 2600 designs. A book of this sort would be of little use, as the design looked for would probably not be there, for every one of these 2600 groups can be placed to read six different ways; and to make a complete work of three-letter designs, with no repeat letters even, would require a showing of 15,600 Monograms or Ciphers. But what about the three letters, one of which is a repeat? A glance through any list of persons will show that these have a right to be included, though they do not occur as frequently as three different letters. Add these to the list for a complete three-letter book—there are 1976 of them, including 26 combinations where the three letters are the same, AAA, etc.—and we have 17,576 designs to be shown. Following the plan of nine designs on a plate, we would require 1953 plates, making a work of fourteen volumes the size of the present book. A bulky work of this sort would not only be unpractical, but the cost of production and the price at which such a work could be sold, would place it beyond the reach of most of those workers to whom we hope to appeal.