Publisher's Synopsis
Mercury Or The Secret and Swift Messenger is a book written by John Wilkins. It is a treatise on the art of cryptography, which is the practice of writing or solving codes and ciphers. The book was first published in 1641 and is considered one of the earliest works on cryptography in the English language.The book is divided into two parts. The first part provides an introduction to cryptography, including a history of the practice and an explanation of the principles of coding and decoding messages. The second part of the book is a collection of codes and ciphers, along with instructions on how to use them.Wilkins was a prominent figure in the scientific community of the 17th century. He was a member of the Royal Society and served as its president from 1660 to 1662. He was also a theologian and a philosopher, and his interests in these fields are reflected in his writings on cryptography.Mercury Or The Secret and Swift Messenger is an important work in the history of cryptography. It provides insights into the development of codes and ciphers in the early modern period and is still studied by scholars today.1694. This work shows how a man may with privacy and speed communicate his thoughts to a friend at any distance. Written in Old English.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.
