Concerning the bi-literal cypher of Francis Bacon discovered in his works

by Elizabeth Wells Gallup

There are three small a's. The oval of the first is narrow and pointed at the top, those of the other two are broad at the top. The small line at the bottom of the first is long and strong, of the other two short and weak.

There are three small e's. The ovals of the first two are broad, the letters themselves narrow; the oval of the last is longer and more pointed, but the letter itself is wide.

The two small i's do not stand at the same degree of inclination, and the dot of the first is slightly to the left.

The capital M is a striking form, and the plain M of that size of type must be familiar to Mr. Schooling and others.

Taking the next Italic line, the small n's are from different founts. The inclination of the second is greater than that of the first. The stem of the first n (in Honourable) is straight, that of the second (in and) is slightly curved. The small line at the bottom of the first stands well under the downward stroke, that of the second freely leaves the downward stroke.

In the next line, the difference in the small l's is very marked, and one is much longer than the other.

In the line below, an e from the “b fount” and one from the “a fount” stand together in the word bee. These can easily be discriminated, but the characteristics of the e in this size of type are the reverse of the same in the large size above.

The o in long is a wider oval than the o from the “a fount” in bountifull. It has already been pointed out why the n's in both words are “a-fount” letters, although the one in long is not a perfect letter—the lower part of the last stroke being blotted—but, as I have said on other occasions, where broken or blotted letters or errors of the printer occur in the original, the context will unmistakably indicate what they are.

The “Novum Organum.”

In the Praefatio of Novum Organum, the first letter considered is the small o, and of this two examples given by Mr. Schooling are in the second line—in explorata and pronuntiare, The longest diameter produced until it intersects the line of writing does not make so large an angle in the first as in the second. The oval is much narrower in the first. The description of these two will suffice for all others not changed by a mark, unless a printer’s error occurs.