The Word Cipher Outreach Set

Part of the New Gorhambury Project — view the Visual Project Summary at the Landing page, gorhambury.org

Click any row below to open that document. (Each links to its published page on this website.)

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The Keystone — Two Ciphers, One Door →

What it is — the thesis in one image: Bacon’s two independent ciphers both point at the same play — the biliteral key (FRANCIS ST ALBAN) and the word-cipher keyhole (orifex), with links to Experiment One and the full method.

Where it fits — the top of the set — the single claim the seven documents below are the evidence for. Start here to see where the whole audit is heading.

1

The One-Page Map of the Word Cipher →

What it is — the entire project on a single sheet: how the cipher works, how much is proven, and the one question only the physical wheel can answer.

Where it fits — your starting point and overview; every other document expands one corner of this map.

2

The One Fully Worked Example — Solution & Carrier, Mapped →

What it is — the one known self-concealed statement (Millett, Baconiana 1895) completely reconstructed: every fragment of the hidden solution located in its carrier article, the three joining mechanisms — skip, splice, weld — colour-coded in place.

Where it fits — the proof of method on real, known-answer material: it shows the machinery working end to end before you read how the machinery is built.

3

The Rulebook, in Colour →

What it is — the clearest surviving description of the method — P. J. Sherman’s 1895 account — with every moving part lit up in its own colour, and links to see those parts at work in a real decoding.

Where it fits — the primary source: where the method actually comes from, before any modern analysis.

4

The Proof and the Glossary →

What it is — the one case where both a hidden message and its key survive, the seven decoded terms defined.

Where it fits — it shows the method is real, gives you its vocabulary, and models the habit of testing every claim — even the ones that fail.

5

The Complete Method →

What it is — the full eleven-step algorithm, each step marked by how far it has been proven, with the hard numbers and the case for scanning Dr. Owen’s physical Cipher Wheel.

Where it fits — the master reference: the spine of the whole audit, which the other documents each illustrate one part of.

6

Seeing It Work →

What it is — the method run forward on a real First Folio passage — from the entry word “Fortune” to the rare “keyhole” word that marks the hidden door.

Where it fits — the demonstration: proof the method isn’t only described but can be applied and independently checked.

7

The Bespoke Scanner →

What it is — the purpose-built rig — a phone camera on a rolling carriage over a freestanding, bolt-together gantry — designed to photograph Owen’s ~1,000-foot painted canvas in faithful colour, with complete CAD models, drawings, and a build-ready bill of materials.

Where it fits — the instrument that turns the audit’s one open question into a solvable one: the tool built to recover the last-mile order off the physical wheel.

8

The Media →

What it is — the project on film and in exhibit form — a moving-picture tour of the audit for anyone who would rather watch than read.

Where it fits — the public face of the work and the easiest way in: what you would point a newcomer, a journalist, or a scholar to first.

9

The Word Cipher Decoder — a live application →

What it is — a live, interactive app: pick any of the 36 First Folio plays and watch the method run step by step — guide words lit up, the matching Owen-volume passage revealed side by side, in real time.

Where it fits — the fastest way to see the audit at work firsthand — no reading required first.

Start with the keystone for the thesis; then read 1 → 8: orientation → the worked example → the historical source → proof & vocabulary → the full method → a live demonstration → the instrument that reads the wheel → watch & explore; then try 9, the live Decoder, yourself. · Research by Walter H. Wilkinson · gorhambury.org