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Mercury or the Secret and Swift Messenger
1641. This work shows how a man may with privacy and speed communicate his thoughts to a friend at any distance. Written in Old English.
Unknown Binding
First published January 1, 1984
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About the author
John Wilkins
17 books4 followersJohn Wilkins FRS (14 February 1614 – 19 November 1672) was an Anglican clergyman, natural philosopher and author, and was one of the founders of the Royal Society. He was Bishop of Chester from 1668 until his death.
Wilkins is one of the few persons to have headed a college at both the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge. He was a polymath, although not one of the most important scientific innovators of the period. His personal qualities were brought out, and obvious to his contemporaries, in reducing political tension in Interregnum Oxford, in founding the Royal Society on non-partisan lines, and in efforts to reach out to religious nonconformists. He was one of the founders of the new natural theology compatible with the science of the time.
He is particularly known for An Essay towards a Real Character and a Philosophical Language (1668) in which, amongst other things, he proposed a universal language and a decimal system of measures which was later developed to become the metric system.
Wilkins lived in a period of great political and religious controversy, yet managed to remain on working terms with men of all political stripes; he was key in setting the Church of England on the path toward comprehension for as many sects as possible, "and toleration for the rest." Gilbert Burnet called him "the wisest clergyman I ever knew. He was a lover of mankind, and had a delight in doing good."
His stepdaughter married John Tillotson, who became Archbishop of Canterbury.
Wilkins is one of the few persons to have headed a college at both the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge. He was a polymath, although not one of the most important scientific innovators of the period. His personal qualities were brought out, and obvious to his contemporaries, in reducing political tension in Interregnum Oxford, in founding the Royal Society on non-partisan lines, and in efforts to reach out to religious nonconformists. He was one of the founders of the new natural theology compatible with the science of the time.
He is particularly known for An Essay towards a Real Character and a Philosophical Language (1668) in which, amongst other things, he proposed a universal language and a decimal system of measures which was later developed to become the metric system.
Wilkins lived in a period of great political and religious controversy, yet managed to remain on working terms with men of all political stripes; he was key in setting the Church of England on the path toward comprehension for as many sects as possible, "and toleration for the rest." Gilbert Burnet called him "the wisest clergyman I ever knew. He was a lover of mankind, and had a delight in doing good."
His stepdaughter married John Tillotson, who became Archbishop of Canterbury.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 5, 2019
This book by Anglican clergyman and natural philosopher John Wilkins (1614-1672) provides an interesting view of how early modern people could communicate securely using the written word, speech, and gestures. The Wikipedia page for Wilkins claims that this book was the first English-language book on cryptography.
Wilkins starts by discussing general themes of the “art of secret information”, then moves to speech and the written word. He describes how messages conveyed by land, water, or air can be hidden from searches, and how to make invisible inks. He discusses how messages can be sent without words, such as by using knots in a string, and how to scramble letters and words to hide their meaning. He discusses how both inanimate and animate objects can be used to send messages.
Most of Wilkins’ methods are described alongside historical anecdotes about how the methods were used by “the ancients.” There are many illustrations that are helpful and even critical to understanding some methods. Reading this book is a bit like a puzzle itself because of the Old English, but it’s enjoyable. There is a bit of early modern humor as well, such as the impracticality of employing a good angel as a messenger and the unsafe nature of employing a bad one. The book’s 172 pages are tiny compared to modern books, so it’s a quick read that lets you step back in time on a topic that is interesting even to non-history buffs. A free PDF of the book can be found at: https://archive.org/details/gu_mercur....
Regarding comments by a previous reviewer, there is a short discussion of sign language (p113-115) as part of a discussion about using secretive gestures, but sign language is not a primary focus of this book. Searching at the archive.org website for “arthrologie” will display old texts on hand gestures.
Wilkins starts by discussing general themes of the “art of secret information”, then moves to speech and the written word. He describes how messages conveyed by land, water, or air can be hidden from searches, and how to make invisible inks. He discusses how messages can be sent without words, such as by using knots in a string, and how to scramble letters and words to hide their meaning. He discusses how both inanimate and animate objects can be used to send messages.
Most of Wilkins’ methods are described alongside historical anecdotes about how the methods were used by “the ancients.” There are many illustrations that are helpful and even critical to understanding some methods. Reading this book is a bit like a puzzle itself because of the Old English, but it’s enjoyable. There is a bit of early modern humor as well, such as the impracticality of employing a good angel as a messenger and the unsafe nature of employing a bad one. The book’s 172 pages are tiny compared to modern books, so it’s a quick read that lets you step back in time on a topic that is interesting even to non-history buffs. A free PDF of the book can be found at: https://archive.org/details/gu_mercur....
Regarding comments by a previous reviewer, there is a short discussion of sign language (p113-115) as part of a discussion about using secretive gestures, but sign language is not a primary focus of this book. Searching at the archive.org website for “arthrologie” will display old texts on hand gestures.
October 24, 2012
not exactly the best read of my life. was looking for history of sign language information and one chapter is about sign and gestural communication. I did giggle a bit at the smoke signal chapter. but mostly it was too many secret code keys with examples and such for my liking.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews