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Record Information
ID:6317
Name:UCL_Library_Services_Special_Collections_Henry_Brougham_Archive_915uncat
Current Location
Country:England
City:London
City:London
Origin
Dates: -
Author:unknown
Sender:unknown
Receiver:unknown
Region:
City:London?
Content
Type:Cipher
Status:Decrypted
Cipher Type:Simple substitution, Nomenclatures
Symbol Sets:
Pages:16
Creation
Owner:14
Creator:14
Creation Date:2023-08-15 11:14:23
Access mode:Authentication required

Transcription [transc]

Uncleaned (raw) plaintext [dec]

Cleaned plaintext [dec]

Recovered key [key]
ID 6317
Name UCL_Library_Services_Special_Collections_Henry_Brougham_Archive_915uncat
Owner UCL Library Services - Special Collections
Current Location and Name London,London
UCL_Library_Services_Special_Collections_Henry_Brougham_Archive_915uncat
Dates 1724 -
Authors unknown
London?
Languages Cleartext:English
Plaintext:English
Country England
City London
Holder London
Author unknown
Sender unknown
Receiver unknown
Region
Origin City London?
Start Year 1724
Start Month 2
Start Day 24
End Year
End Month
End Day
Record
Type		 Cipher
Status Decrypted
Symbol Set
Cipher Type Simple substitutionNomenclatures
Cipher Type (notes) Digit cipher with nom. elements (code names) in clear
Symbol Sets (notes) Digits
No. of Pages 16
Inline Cleartext Yes
Inline Plaintext No
Cleartext
Language		 English
Plaintext
Language		 English
Private Ciphertext True
Available Documents Deciphered textKeyTranscription
Paper
Access Mode Authentication required
Creation Date 8/15/23
Key: encoded plaintext type
Key: numbers Yes
Key: content words
Key: function words Yes
Key: syllables
Key: morphological endings
Key: phrases
Key: sentences
Key: punctuation
Key: nomenclature size 11-20
Key: sections
Key: headings
Key: plaintext arrangement
Key: ciphertext arrangement
Key: memorability
Key: symbol set AlphabetDigits
Key: diacritics
Key: code length
Key: code types
Key: metaphors
Key: material properties
Key: instructions

Additional Information

I broke the cipher using the homophonic substitution analyzer of CrypTool 2.

It seems that there are missing pages after the 16th page. I consulted the archivist (Katy) of the UCL library, but she said that there are unfortunately no more letters in the collection.

The papers were found in the private collection of the UCL founder Henry Brougham (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Brougham,_1st_Baron_Brougham_and_Vaux) but they are dated 50 years before his birth. So they are either in the wrong box or he got these in his possession sometimes or the papers were already owned by one of his ancestors.

The text intrigues the political system. All the people (and places?) mentioned are hidden using code names (=nomenclature elements) in cleartext. The only exception being Madame de Prie, the mistress of the French prime minister of the time, who is to be bribed with money.


Created by:niko