# An AI cracked a 373-year-old cipher by noticing the key was hiding in the book itself

> Source: <https://boingboing.net/2026/09/14/fountain-pen-cyphral-distich.html>
> Published: 2026-09-14 17:48:55+00:00

In 1653, Sir Thomas Urquhart, a Scottish writer and translator, published a book called [Logopandecteision](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logopandecteision), an introduction to an artificial language that he had created.

The end of the book had two lines with 32 numbers on each line. People assumed it was some kind of a cipher and have been trying to crack it ever since. — [Read the rest](https://boingboing.net/2026/09/14/fountain-pen-cyphral-distich.html) 

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