Ciphers of Elizabeth I

[Peter Fairbrother]

IIRC there's a description of the Mary, Queen of Scots cypher in Simon
Singh's book.

I have read about other Elizabethan cyphers, and the work of the Government
cryptanalyst who broke the M,QoS cypher, so recent-ish discussion does in
general exist, but I'm sorry I can't remember where (or his name) :(

-- Peter 


> John Young at jya@pipeline.com wrote:

> The Public Records Office search engine has one listing for "ciphers:"
> 
> http://www.pro.gov.uk/leaflets/ri2056.htm
> 
> The citation lists "Ciphers, Elizabeth I to George III (SP 106)."
> 
> From Columbia University Library, which led us to the PRO, a
> catalog entry refers to "Cryptography, Great Britain, History,
> Elizabeth, 1558-1603, Sources," which points to a reprint of
> one of the documents listed under "ciphers" at the PRO:
> 
> Calendar of State Papers Foreign, Elizabeth, 1558-1589, ed.
> J Stevenson, A J Crosby, A J Butler, S C Lomas, A B Hinds,
> R B Wernham, 23 volumes (London, 1863-1950).
> 
> I shall be looking at the Columbia University reprint of the
> "Calendar of State Papers," and will be curious about what
> is in "Ciphers, Elizabeth I to George III (SP 106)."
> 
> My question is whether these documents have been examined
> by persons here and/or whether the Elizabethan era ciphers
> described in them have been written about in contemporary
> works.