Unsolved ciphers / Starhemberg
Paris, 23 May 1758 · 21 manuscript cipher lines · 1,726 digits
Starhemberg on the memorandum to Wall, Farinelli’s matching statement, and hopes that ceding Minorca to Spain would bring Spain into the war.
Substantially deciphered, with a complete proposed reading
The surviving 1752 Austrian Prima/Secunda key supports a connected reading of the letter. The central sentence pairs Farinelli speaking to the recipient with Wall speaking to the French ambassador: their closely agreeing statements raise hopes of Spanish participation. The letter also concerns forwarding reports, the memorandum delivered to Wall, and further confidential negotiations.
This is a reconstruction with eleven conjectural digit-edit sites, four contextual readings of 99 as g, and several uncertain key variants. The reconstruction covers the whole letter; uncertainty concerns particular words, repairs and conventions, rather than large unread passages. An exact decipherment is not established. Square brackets flag substantial restorations or lexical doubts. Spelling, word boundaries, inflection and expansion of abbreviated key entries are editorial throughout; unbracketed prose does not certify every ending.
Manuscript photographs supplied by Satoshi Tomokiyo, with Alexandre Pillon’s permission, on 21 September 2026 support the collation. The margin shows five digits absent from the Cryptiana transcription: 5 at the end of V1, 11 at V2, and 31 at V9. The photographed digits are preserved separately from the proposed repairs.
R means recto and V verso. Cipher paragraph boundaries fall within some manuscript lines, so boundary lines repeat below. Spacing and punctuation retain transcription conventions; control placements require explicit interpretation. The final digit of the group adopted as 31405 in V5 may be 5 or 6.
Full annotated edition · Graded source tokens · Graded emended tokens · Token-to-manuscript alignment
Manuscript prose
Written in clear in the manuscript.
Hochgebohrner Herr Graf!
Ew. Hochgebohrn letztere an den Hof erstattete Bericht-Schreiben durch die Post, und jenes, so Dieselbe durch einen aus Cadix gekommenen französischen Courier abgehen lassen, habe richtig erhalten, und an des Herrn Hof-Canzlers Excellenz gehörig eingeschickt, und zumahlen das letztere noch den nämlichen Tag, als ich es überkommen, durch einen eben zur Abreise fertig gestandenen Courier ohne Verzug weiters expediert.
High-born Count,
I have duly received Your Lordship's latest reports to the court sent by post, and the one you sent through a French courier who had come from Cadiz. I forwarded them to His Excellency the Court Chancellor. In particular, I sent the latter onward without delay on the very day I received it, through a courier who was already ready to depart.
Lightly normalized manuscript prose. The word gehörig and some endings remain less secure; these are not decoded cipher groups.
Ciphertext and reconstructed reading
R188 33 11 59, 312 17 312 14 69 314, 20 310 78 310 47, 311 26 95 313 8,2 311 09 312 26 310 33 314 52 31
R22, 65 310 47 314 43 311 9,1 313 06 310 78 99 310 80 31,2 6 88^" 54 00 8 312, 11 311, 09 310 99 312 26 310, 05 310 19 310 33 8 313
R334 312 23 311 1,3 311 8 10 170 313 12 312 93 310 75, 310 27 311 68 22 310 99 314 66 311 36, 312 11 314 08 312 28 8 312 62 311 4,
R49 314 38 66 313 64 311 21 311 15 3;11 58 313 48 311 22 310 8 43 14 33 314 43 310 33 312 71 310, 79 313 15 8 62 69 312 87 300 7
R53 313 99 99, 313 18 8 311 15 311 69 311 19 311 64 312 62 314 08 310 78 312 10 311 16 314 28 311: 70 312 10 313 83 310 89 312; 113 13 82 300 0
R60 312 93 314 71 313 06 73 11 97, 33 13 94 313 80 312 163 10 58 310 89 8, 311 71 312 63 01 312 40 62 311 63 312 93 310 36 313 18 311 84 313 72 31
R71 68 313 50 311 21 314 90 69 01 311 06 312 08 312 28 8 311 15 310 75 313 59 62, 310 41 313 33 21 313 03 313 18 310 61 312 22 314 47 312, 14 11
V19 313 28 8 95 313 46 31,0 00 311 69 95 310 04 311 84 87^_ 6 311 62 313 01 87^, 000 313 84 310 4,2 312 38 8 313 25 314 66 535
So [stattlich?], als ich nun den Innhalt derselben gefunden, so große Hoffnun[g] mache mir, daß [es] deroselben annoch gelingen werde, die durch das dem Stat[s]secretario Wall behändigte sehr treflich gefasste Memoir so geschickt als vor[sich]ti[g] eingeleitete Handlung nunmehro immer offen zu behalten und den spanischen Hof [bis zu] solchen Resolutionen zu vermögen, die entweder dem Krieg eine vergnüglichere, als die dermahlige Gestalt ist, geben oder uns einen erspr[ieß]lichen [†] honorablen Frieden verschaffen könnten;
[Impressive?] as I found their contents, I have great hopes that you will still succeed in keeping open the negotiation so skillfully and cautiously initiated through the excellently drafted memorandum delivered to Secretary of State Wall, and in persuading the Spanish court to adopt decisions that would either give the war a more favorable turn than its present state or secure for us an advantageous and honorable peace.
The first cipher paragraph ends partway through V1. † marks the defective 119 at the recto/verso join. Deleting it and restoring an encoded en have equal edit cost; no extra substantive word is claimed.
Ciphertext and reconstructed reading
V19 313 28 8 95 313 46 31,0 00 311 69 95 310 04 311 84 87^_ 6 311 62 313 01 87^, 000 313 84 310 4,2 312 38 8 313 25 314 66 535
V20 314 00 314 60 31;1 8 38 310 10 312 72 310 57 310 87 312 86 31,1 17 314 98 310 16 312 28 8 311 57 00 313 06 314 6,0 313 15 311
V333 311 26 312, 72 312 10 311 82 74 312 38 311 62 313 008 312 64 313 77 314 48 312 18 312 99 02 310, 143 10 10 314 03 6
V43 312 18 312 99 312; 86 310 06 313 34 310 313 11 26 310 75 312 25 312 91 315 00 314, 49 41 310 89 99 84^" 112 311 42 311 5
V57 310 313 11 83 8 313 34 312 78 44 313 45 312 08 313, 61 09 314 37 314 66 313 65 312 39 314 05 310 34 312 59 14 311 51 5
V64 313 29 310, 91 313 04 55 312 38 312 01 314 56 312 74 06 313 07 26 41 44 312 10 311 44 94 314, 58 314 08 310 1
V766 60 04. 43 12 80 312 10 313 89 311 57 311 67 31 39 7 312 72 41 310 73 315 00 314 49 313 4,2 313 30 311 51 310 33 312
V846 312 82 314 7,5 55 09 8 9^_7 11 30 000 8 310 89 310 57 310 8;7 312 86 311 17 314 98 310 16 313 34 311 57 312 80 312 10 314 551
und gibt mir zumahlen die von dem Farinelli gegen Euer Hochgebohrn und von dem Wall gegen den französischen Botschafter fast zu gleicher Zeit gemachte, genau gleichförmige Äusserung sehr große Hoffnun[g], daß schon Minorca an Spanien überlassen würde, wozu sich Frankreich [bereit?] zeige un[d] wohl leicht [en]tschließen wird, alsdann dieser Hof an dem Krieg mit Theil nehmen und andurch den [engländischen] und preußischen Hof in sehr große Verlegenheit setz[en] würde.
In particular, the closely agreeing statement made by Farinelli to Your Lordship and by Wall to the French ambassador, at nearly the same time, gives me very great hope that Minorca would indeed be ceded to Spain. France shows itself [ready?] to do this and will probably readily resolve upon it. This court would then participate in the war and thereby place the English and Prussian courts in very great difficulty.
The paragraph begins within V1 and ends within V8, so these boundary lines appear in adjacent sections. Farinelli and no are both explicit values of Secunda 31183. The longer ge-variants remain tentative. Schon is rendered as indeed; the passage expresses hope, not an unconditional Spanish promise.
Ciphertext and reconstructed reading
V846 312 82 314 7,5 55 09 8 9^_7 11 30 000 8 310 89 310 57 310 8;7 312 86 311 17 314 98 310 16 313 34 311 57 312 80 312 10 314 551
V94 313 07 99 314 48 313 20 310 90 313 00, 88 312 10 310 70 94 314 57 312 22 313 42 8 9^_9 314 27 312 40 311 13 6231
V1011 59 53 11 54 312 47 8,8 314 43 312 64 311 30 52 312 7 28 311 01 311 68 314 13 8 314 29 313 18, 314 2 46 9 311 30 312 9
V113 313 25 310 62 62 311, 54 311 12 311 15 8 312 71 311 27 313 42 310 58 313 91 314 06 313 14 90 312 57 8 31,3 94 311 58 311 16 3
V1210 85 30 000 310. 47 8 314 66 311 36 8 314 43 314 92 312 18 311 70 312 10 8 312 63, 70 311 06 310 99 99 312 71 311 1,9 313 1
V135 312 62 314 47 310 60 8 312 47 31, 2 10 31:3 94 314 84 8 314 13 312 40 311, 84 315 00 310 58 313 26 314 51 314 62 310
V1489 311 84 8 312 63 8 83.
Da ich nun Euer Hochgebohrn durch den Courier Zinner zu erstattenden Berichten mit vielem Ver[langen?] entgegensehe, so brauche indessen nichts Be[s]eres einrathen, als in dem bereits eingeschlagenen Weeg fortzufahren und den Wall so viel nur immer möglich durch dero [g]schicktes Benehmen zu weiteren Vertrauenausserungen zu vermögen.
As I await with great [eagerness?] the reports Your Lordship is to send through the courier Zinner, I can advise nothing better in the meantime than to continue along the course already taken, and through your skillful dealings persuade Wall, as far as possible, to make further confidential disclosures.
Verlangen remains uncertain. The two digits 31 at the end of V9 are visible. Ziner is normalized to Zinner; the code 99 keeps its ordinary Secunda value er here. Other occurrences interpreted as g are explicit inferences.
Manuscript prose
Written in clear in the manuscript.
Ich beharre mit aller Hochachtung
Ew. Hochgebohrn
gehorsamster Diener
Georg Graf und Herr von Starhemberg
Paris den 23ten May 1758.
I remain, with the greatest respect, Your Lordship's most obedient servant,
Georg, Count and Lord of Starhemberg
Paris, 23 May 1758.
Signature and date are visible. The recipient’s personal name is not supplied by the letter; Rosenberg remains a contextual identification.
Further investigation could include a complete audit of the key’s handwritten alternatives and extended comparison with surviving worked examples and contemporary decipherments, especially for 99 and repeated 55. These avenues have not been exhausted, but no specific comparison has been identified that would resolve those readings, and no recovery from these proposed checks has been demonstrated. Whether further work would improve the decipherment is unknown. The proposed repairs remain conjectural.
These eleven sites cost thirteen digit edits. None is an observed correction from the photographs. Offsets are zero-based positions in the 1,721-digit Cryptiana baseline; the alignment gives physical manuscript positions. Contextual g readings, framing and grammatical expansion are additional assumptions.
| Baseline offset | Digit edit | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| 115 | 31211 → 31221 | es in daß es deroselben; manuscript appears31211 |
| 195 | 31168 → 31368 | s in Statssecretario; keep31168=u in vergnüglich |
| 325 | 30073 → 31073 | sich in vorsichtig; photographed30073 is malformed |
| 443 | 7 → ∅ | surplus digit before31197=bi(s) |
| 449 | 3 → ∅ | surplus digit before31394=zu |
| 624 | 119 → ∅ | damaged recto/verso join; adjective ending editorial |
| 1046 | 31329 → 31326 | d after un |
| 1061 | 55 → 95 | en in entschließen |
| 1139 | 31389 → 31399 | Engelland before Prussia; adjective expanded |
| 1216 | 55 → 95 | en in setzen, same error as1061 |
| 1414 | 31168 → 31368 | s in beseres |
The manuscript parse conserves all 1,726 digits, with 413 units and two structurally invalid groups. The separately emended stream has 1,721 digits, 404 units and no invalid groups. Its length matching the Cryptiana baseline is coincidental. Table switches remain Prima 876 → Secunda and Secunda 899 → Prima.
Source grades: 398 H, 12 M, 3 I. Emended grades: 378 H, 8 M, 18 I. H denotes historical key evidence; M uncertainty; I inference. Counts include nulls and controls. The three source I units are the framing pair and displaced punctuation. These grades do not measure authenticated prose or transcription accuracy.
Run python3 starhemberg-1758/run_checks.py from the repository root. The edition’s build.py --check verifies committed outputs. Digit conservation, explicit repair accounting, two table switches and the valid emended parse are mechanical checks, not independent authentication of the conjectures.
Observed collation · Key evidence · Repair ledger · Verification · Source roots · Emended roots