Johann Bessler had already made plans for the moment when he finished his perpetual motion machine. During a visit to Prague, some years before that triumph, he had discussed his intentions with a Jewish Rabbi and Jesuit priest in Prague. This was an unusual combination of religious community leaders, but as I explained in my biography about Bessler, it was the inventor’s habit to introduce himself to as many learned people as possible in the hope of acquiring further useful skills that might aid him in his search for an end to his long term goal. He offered to be a secret contact between the two differing religious leaders, which they eagerly accepted. Given the public intolerance to both religions, he was warned to keep his visits secret for fear of actions by opponents of either community. This he did.
Besides his efforts to find a solution to perpetual motion, Bessler was also taught some Hebrew and some complex codes and ciphers. It was suggested that he encode information about his solution. This might useful for when he finally succeeded in his quest. So he could produce it as evidence of his success should he fail to convince anyone with a working wheel, which of course had to be covered to protect the secret. He believed it would be of benefit to him to know that he had arranged for full disclosure of the details of his machine in a coded description which he planned to publish. He preferred to die, secret unrevealed, rather than give it away
During his Prague stay, Bessler was shown a three volume work called Steganographia written by the polymath and abbott, Johannes Trithemius. He was considered the founder of modern cryptography and in particular steganography. This latter is the practice of concealing messages within seemingly ordinary messages or in an image. The main advantage of steganography is that it allows for secret communication without raising suspicion as the carrier file appears normal and unaltered.
Recent work on the abbot’s book, Steganographia has revealed that part of the Trithemius’s work used numbers for letter of the alphabet. This required a complex system but it was invisible to the naked eye.
Bessler used several different ciphers and codes each unrelated to the other. He concealed information in images and also used, for instance, 141 biblical quotation in one area, involving both letters and numbers.
I have deciphered most of the images containing hidden information, but although I have made some inroads into the 141 Bible references, not enough to do more than prove their purpose exists as a cipher. I imagine that once the working model of his wheel is revealed and the stenographia proved to exist, decipherment will follow - I certainly hope so.
NB. During Bessler’s stay in Prague a Jesuit priest named Franciscus Haselbauer is known to have interactions with Rabbi Jonathon Eibeschuetz who was a prominent Jewish scholar and preacher. There is a study titled ‘The Rabbi and the Jesuit.’ which explores their relationship, editing the Talmud.
PS. Yes, the Prague Klementinum library is known to have a copy of the "Steganographia" book by Johannes Trithemius. It is part of the library's collection of rare books and manuscripts. The Klementinum, a historical complex in Prague, houses a vast collection of historical texts, including works related to the occult sciences.
The "Steganographia" is a book that explores the art of secret writing and cryptography, and it has been a subject of interest for scholars and researchers for centuries. The Klementinum's copy of this book is a valuable part of its collection, reflecting the library's historical focus on science, astronomy, and the occult. (Google).
JC
