Amadi was probably a cipher teacher at the Council of Ten and Agostino Amadi wrote a large manuscript on Venetian ciphers, divided in ten volumes, that was acquired in 1588 by the Inquisitori di Stato in Venice under the title of “Codice Amadi, Trattato delle cifre”. Also in Italian: trattato delle cifre d’agostino amadi.
The Amadi manuscript was kept secret for hundreds of years and is now published for the first time with the Venetian ciphers of the 16th century.
This volume 1 is published in two languages: Italian and English. The original Italian handwritten text was firstly transcribed and translated by Marco Ponzi into modern Italian and then translated into English.
In the first Volume, more than 80 different ciphering methods are discussed together with diagrams, tables, symbolic images, with every cipher method containing one or more examples. These are all thoroughly investigated, checked and, where necessary, adjusted, with the addition of comments.
Available as on Amazon as e-book, paperback or hardcover
English+Italian:
ASIN : B09WHG4L18
Publisher : Independently published (March 23, 2022)
Language : English
Paperback : 234 pages
ISBN-13 : 979-8766232537
Item Weight : 1.23 pounds
Dimensions : 8.5 x 0.53 x 11 inches
Volume 1: there are three version available on Amazon, one in English, one in English + Italian and one in the Italian language only.
Volume 2 is currently being processed and is expected to be published beginning 2023.
Examples of ciphers that Amadi uses are:
Explanation, further examples and comments on the ciphers can be found in the book. Some pages have been shared on papers on academia and researchgate.
Part of the contents Volume 1:
The Amadi family line 10
The Amadi manuscript mentioned by others 13
Preface by D.P.J.A Scheers 18
The manuscript 19
The volumes and the pages 20
Volume 1: 007-003r (English) 21
0011-005r: Agostino Amadi. About Ciphers. 21
0012-005v: simple substitution 22
0013-006r: consonants shifted to the left 23
0014-006v: letters spread over multiple lines 24
0015-007r: letters spread over four lines & nulls 25
0016-007v: different shapes: p-shaped characters 26
0017-008r: pigpen cipher 27
0018-008v: diagonal pigpen cipher 29
0019-009r: irregular word spacing 30
0020-009v 31
0021-010r: simple substitution alphabets 32
0022-010v: nulls 32
0023-011r: character frequency 33
0024-011v: cipher using 12 letters only 34
0025-012r: 12 letter cipher 35
0026-012v 36
0027-013r: ruota 37
0028-013v: first writing wheel 38
0029-014r: circle abcdefghilmnopqrstuz 40
0030-014v: simple wheel example 41
0031-015r: example of wheel shift per word 41
0032-015v: ABCD table 43
0033-016r … 0038-018v 44
0039-019r & 0040-019v: long example Titiano 46
0041-020r 47
0042-020v: wheel 20v with graphic characters 49
0043-021r: wheel 21r 50
0044_021v: example with multiple wheels 51
0045-022r 52
0046-022v: example of mixed wheels 54
0047-023r 56
0048-023v: rotating discs 57
0049-024r: cipher with 18 characters and nulls 58
0050-024v: cipher with 12 characters 59
0051-025r 60
0052-025v 61
0053-026r 61
0054-026v: table with 5 columns and 4 rows 62
0055-027r: table ab:ac:ad:bc:bd:ba:ad: and 3 rows a:b:c: 63
0056-027v: table ii: with 6 columns and rows i: 2: 3: 65
0057-028r: distance grid 66
0058-028v: a: b: c: cipher 69
0059-029r: 12 letter alphabet 70
0060-029v: 18 letters on a stick 72
0061-030r: trade symbols or Basingstokes 73
0062-030v 74
0063-031r: simple grille, first cardan example, using 3 grilles 76
0064-031v: grille with numbers 77
0065-032r: steganography with grille 78
0066-032v: key phrase and stepping cipher 79
0067-033r: transposition cipher with keyphrase 80
0068-033v: using a date as key 82
0069-034r: organist key used for table 83
0070-034v: Bellaso table 84
0071-035r: Faticha example 85
0072-035v 86
0073-036r: the alphabet of Babuini 87
0074-036v: the Babuini table 88
0075-037r 89
0076-037v: Babuini variation table 91
0077-038r 92
0078-038v 94
0079-039r 96
0080-039v 97
0081-040r: table with scattered numbers till 900 98
0082-040v: Prince Gritti 99
0083-041r 99
0084-041v: music sheet 100
0085-042r 101
0086-042v: Egyptian numbers and Babuini 102
0087-043r: multiplication table 103
0088-043v 104
0089-044r: Spanish babuini cipher 105
0090-044v 106
0091-045r: Babuini table 20×20 107
0092-045v 108
0093-046r 108
0094-046v: proportional numbers 109
0095-047r 110
0096-047v 110
0097-048r 112
0098-048v 113
0099-049r: a La Serenissima Alteza 114
0100-049v: Tabula Secunda Cum Beneficio Literarum Mobilum 116
0101-050r: transposed alphabet table 117
0102-050v 119
0103-051r: motum serva 120
0104-051v: tavola with letters, numbers and babuini 121
0105-052r: table with letters only 122
0106-052v: table with babuini and letters 123
0107-053r: table with letters and numbers 124
0108-053v 125
0109-054r 126
0110-054v 127
0111-055r 128
0112-055v 129
0113-056r 130
0115-057r 131
0116-057v 132
0117-058r 132
0118-058v 133
0119-059r 134
0120-059v: table TMGV 135
0121-060r 135
0122-060v 136
0123-061r 137
0125-062r 138
0126-062v 139
0127-063r 139
0128-063v: alphabet and Egyptian symbols 140
0129-064r 141
0130-064v 143
0131-065r 144
0133-066r 145
0134-066v 146
0135-067r 147
0138-068v: transposition 147
0139-069r 148
0140-069v 149
0141-070r 150
0142-070v: very noble 150
0143-071r 152
Appendix: Hypnerotomachia Poliphili 153
Appendix: Example of the handwritten characters 159
Appendix: Babuino and babuini 160
The Babuino teaching method in the Italian language 161
Amadi and the babuini 163
Reference List 164
Appendix: Full modern Italian text of the first volume 165