Wackerbarth’s cipher letters (1715–1717)

At a glanceKey from adjacent plaintext · partial · 88.5% and 80.4% of cipher words

The letters: Three letters of August Christoph von Wackerbarth in French with passages in number cipher: probably to his wife, from the camp before Stralsund, 20 November 1715; to Flemming from Vienna, 24 April 1717; and Relation XXII to King Augustus II, Vienna, 14–16 June 1717.
Where: Dresden, Sächsisches Hauptstaatsarchiv, 10026 Geheimes Kabinett, Loc. 00712/05 (1715) and Loc. 00713/01 (1717). Scans online at archiv.sachsen.de. Not in the project’s catalogue; no DECODE record was found in the repository’s copy (the live database was not queried).
The cipher: One key in all three: French letters in one- and two-digit numbers with several numbers for common letters, three-digit numbers for names and words, most four-digit numbers taken for nulls, and clear words in between.
How it was deciphered: The key was rebuilt twice from decipherments of the time written between the lines of other letters, once in each volume, then applied to two letters that have none. The text of the letter of 24 April is taken from its own decipherment sheet of the time.
The tests: The declared ground-truth test failed (0.339 where 0.60 was required). A held-out language test passed, the 1715 letter’s own test passed, and at verification each volume’s key was found to read the other volume’s letter.
What they say: In 1717 the imperial chancellor Sinzendorf proposes a concert of the Emperor, the King of Poland and the King of England for peace in the North. In 1715 Wackerbarth tells his correspondent in Vienna, probably his wife, what to answer: Augustus II wants “une paix générale aucunement séparée”.
Credit: Transcription, key, tests and reading by Brice Dudout (pull request #418), who ran AI agents for the work. Anne-Simone Rous works on the same correspondence; her paper led him to the volumes, and this is simultaneous, independent work alongside hers.
Still open: 263 of 1,638 cipher words: numbers that no interlinear gloss gives (79, 96, 1000 and others; 72 rests only on the non-blind alignment of the 24 April cipher on its sheet), words where the reading gives a number other letters than its gloss value or supplies letters the cipher does not give, about twenty numbers with no value at all, and three numbers probably misread. An original key may survive in Dresden; it was not looked for.

01 The letters

The Saxon Hauptstaatsarchiv in Dresden keeps the correspondence of two ministers of Augustus II, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony: Field Marshal Jacob Heinrich von Flemming and the cabinet minister and general August Christoph von Wackerbarth. The archive titles the series “Des Generalfeldmarschalls Herrn Graf von Flemming mit dem Kabinettsminister und General Herrn Graf von Wackerbarth gehabte Korrespondenz”. Two of its volumes are used here: Loc. 00712/05 (volume 288, 1715) and Loc. 00713/01 (volume 291, 1717, 298 scanned views). The letters are in French. Sensitive passages are written in numbers, and in many letters a clerk of the time wrote the decipherment between the lines. Some letters have no decipherment. Three letters are covered:

Relation XXII, Wackerbarth to the King (a copy, addressed “Sire”), Vienna, 14–16 June 1717: Loc. 00713/01, ff. 71–80v (views 0089–0099). Clear French and cipher alternate; 2,939 cipher numbers. No decipherment of the time.
The letter of 20 November 1715 from the camp before Stralsund: Loc. 00712/05, ff. 307–314 (views 0380–0387); 3,415 cipher numbers. No decipherment of the time beyond a few words in the margin. It is a copy, and Brice Dudout argues that it is Wackerbarth writing, probably to his wife, in Vienna (section 05).
Letter no. 15 to Flemming, Vienna, 24 April 1717: Loc. 00713/01, ff. 29–32 (views 0037–0040); 1,274 cipher numbers. Its decipherment of the time is on a separate sheet at ff. 33–33v.

No image of the letters is shown on this page. Brice Dudout reports the scans marked “In Copyright” on archiv.sachsen.de, and the archive’s imprint reserves copyright on its images unless stated otherwise; the record pages state no licence. The scans can be opened from the links under Sources.

The same volume of 1717 holds letters of November and December in another key, the Flemming key of Loc. 00675/10. Brice Dudout checked five of them against their glosses of the time. They are a different cipher and are not part of this page.

02 The cipher and its key

The cipher is a homophonic substitution of French letters: one- and two-digit numbers stand for letters, and common letters have several numbers (e is 2 and 10, o is 16, 22 and 33, t is 28 and 52). Three-digit numbers stand mostly for double letters, short words, names and titles (100 and 120 are plain d): 154 Votre Excellence, 168 l’Empereur, 177 le Czar, 187 le roi de Suède, 217 le roi d’Angleterre, 292 la Pologne, 306 Vienne. Most numbers of four digits fit no word and are taken for nulls; 1000 is proposed as “et”, and 4527, 4008 and 10009 are unresolved codes. Words in clear stand between the cipher passages.

Brice Dudout rebuilt the key twice, each time only from decipherments written between the lines at the time:

key c, from the glossed letters of spring 1717 in Loc. 00713/01 (views 0017, 0057–0062, 0071–0072, 0080–0081 and 0086–0088). The cipher numbers were aligned on the glosses by a script, and the key was frozen before it was measured. The decipherment sheet of 24 April was not used to build it.
K1715, from the glosses on views 0388–0390 of Loc. 00712/05, the extract of the countess’s letter of 5 November 1715, which the letter of 20 November answers, and its sequel: 57 numbers from 934 aligned pairs, by majority vote.

The two are the same key. The independent check made before this page was written found 47 numbers common to both and 43 of them with the same value (Brice Dudout counted 47 of 50). The four that differ are small: 20 is b, not “ee”; 71 is y (the 1715 key file lists i by a slip; its glosses have y eight times out of eight); 77 is s or ss; 97 is m in one key and la in the other. Both keys share 150 (le roi), 168 and 700 (et). Key c lists 103 as “les” (view 0088, “V.E. les desire”); a gloss of view 0080 also gives “le”: “deloger les russes” stands over 103 29, so 103 = le.

The glosses of each volume fill holes in the other’s key. Key c has no value for 4, 76 or 306; the 1715 glosses give 4 = x (nine times), 76 = st (five times) and 306 = Vienne (“la cour de Vienne”, view 0389). The key files (key.tsv, s15_key.tsv) are released under CC BY 4.0.

03 The tests

Brice Dudout wrote each test down and hashed it before running it, and ran each once. All his files carry the date 11 November 2026, so the order of events is by the contributor’s record.

The declared ground-truth test failed. The second protocol held the glossed letter of 28 May 1717 out of the key and declared that the key must recover at least 0.60 of the gloss words exactly, with a margin of at least 0.30 over the best of 200 permuted keys. The result was 0.339 against 0.128, a margin of 0.21. The same protocol required a second, language test on a page not decoded until then (view 0091 of Relation XXII, 353 numbers); that one passed, at 11.5 standard deviations above the permuted keys. The protocol allowed a reading only if both passed. Brice Dudout then decided to read Relation XXII on the language test alone, with the 95% bar as the final check: a rule changed after the result, which he declared as such. An earlier protocol had also failed on both its tests; by his later diagnosis its ground-truth score was divided by a sheet four times longer than the portion tested.

Other evidence makes the key credible. It is separate from the failed test and does not replace it:

The 1715 letter had its own pre-registered test. The key K1715 was frozen, the letter was transcribed by agents that had not seen the glosses, and one page (view 0384 left, 307 numbers) was measured once: 0.945 of the numbers fall in French words, against 0.730 for the best of 400 control keys, with the threshold set at 0.77 beforehand. Two deviations were declared: the control page was displayed on screen before the protocol was written (the key had been hashed in the same command, and the verifier rebuilt it from the training files), and a reduced thumbnail of view 0380 was seen at the start, before the protocol, to locate the pages, with nothing decoded from it.
The cross-volume check, made at verification on 12 November 2026 and not claimed by the contributor: K1715, learnt only from the 1715 volume, turns Relation XXII of the 1717 volume into French (90% of the numbers covered, 8.8 standard deviations above permuted keys over all 2,939 numbers). Key c does the same for the 1715 letter (5.6). Neither key was built from the other volume.
The verifier rebuilt both keys from the transcribed glosses and obtained the same tables (but for 71 in the 1715 table), decoded Relation XXII with a second program and obtained the same text, and scored view 0091 with the project’s own French model: 7.3 standard deviations, above all 200 permuted keys.
Two sample pages of the transcription were compared with the archive scans (view 0091 left, about 190 numbers; view 0384 left, about 150): all agree, except that at view 0384 line 11 a doubtful 28/25 looks like 28 on the scan while the reading uses 25.

The failed test could not be run again, because its word list and corpora are not in the folder; its figures match the contributor’s result file. The recorded verdict for the key stays “weak”.

04 Relation XXII, June 1717

Wackerbarth reports to the King that the imperial court, which had been waiting for the outcome of the campaign in Hungary, has at last spoken. Count Sinzendorf, chancellor of the court, tells him by order of the Emperor that the Emperor wishes to enter with the King and the King of England into a concert, to restore the tranquillity of the Empire and an “entire peace” in the North on a “juste équilibre”, in keeping with the laws of the Empire. Sinzendorf made the same overture the day before to Saint-Saphorin. The stay of the Russians in the Empire is referred again to the Diet of Ratisbon; the Emperor will concert with the directors of the Circles to get them out. The King of England wants the same measures taken regarding Poland, and no inch of the lost German provinces returned (the number that follows is unread; the sense wants the King of Sweden). The secret is closely kept: the ministers would not admit even a referendary to the conference. Sinzendorf has leave for a journey to Innsbruck of twelve to fifteen days, as the reading has it (the place and both numbers rest on inferred values).

The “triple alliance” is Saint-Saphorin’s opinion, not Sinzendorf’s proposal. The passage, on f. 77, follows the clear words “Selon lui: la Cour Imperiale ayant” (words in italics are in clear in the letter; braces mark a doubtful number):

été portée jusqu'à [la] démarche de nous faire connoître sa disposition à l'egard des affaires du nord l'affaire
pourroit même {être} menée au point d'en venir à une triple alliance entre l'Empereur le Roy d'Angleterre et le Roy

“In his view, the Imperial Court having been brought as far as the step of letting us know its disposition regarding the affairs of the North, the affair could even be carried to the point of a triple alliance between the Emperor, the King of England and the King.” The bracketed “la” is number 79, which no gloss gives.

Of the 716 cipher words, 634 are counted as deciphered (88.5%; section 07). The clear passages of views 0098–0099 were not transcribed in full.

05 Stralsund, 20 November 1715

The heading reads “Reponse à la lettre de 306. au camp devant Stralsund le 20e 9bre 1715”. The volume is catalogued as Flemming–Wackerbarth correspondence. Brice Dudout argues that this piece is a copy of a letter from Wackerbarth, probably to his wife, the Countess of Wackerbarth, in Vienna:

306 is Vienna, by a gloss of the time;
the letter answers “celle du 5me du courant”, and the next piece in the volume (f. 315) is an extract of a letter from Vienna of 5 November 1715 on the same “raisonnement”, over which a hand of the time wrote “La Comtesse de Wa…” and “au C. de Wa…”;
the cipher reads “Voilà, ma chère femme, de quoi répondre…” (“ma” and “femme” from the key; “chère” rests on 72 = ch, which no interlinear gloss gives; it rests on the non-blind alignment of the 24 April cipher on its sheet);
the piece before it (f. 306) is a jesting full power signed “Le Comte de Wackerbart” at the same camp;
the writer directs the siege batteries and writes to General Dücker and to Count Virmond.

Against it: a private letter is not expected in a cabinet volume. The copy is in a clean secretary’s hand, unsigned, with a decipherer’s words in the margin. The attribution is probable, not proved.

The month was first transcribed “8bre” (October) and corrected to “9bre” (November): the figure is a 9 with a long descender, like the 9s of the cipher. The verifier read the heading on the scan of view 0380 and agrees. The frozen transcription files keep “8bre”.

The letter tells its recipient, probably the countess, what to answer to a “reasoning” put to her at the imperial court. The King of Sweden will be driven out of Germany, where only Stralsund and Wismar are left to him; before Stralsund the attack is far advanced, and Wismar is blockaded since the island of Poel was taken. The harm is of his own making. Then, in words the reader marked certain:

le roi est fort disposé à la paix mais à une paix générale aucunement séparée

“The King is well disposed to peace, but to a general peace, by no means a separate one.” The King does not want a total ruin of the Crown of Sweden and has stipulated as much with his allies. The reasoning heard in Vienna resembles the letter the Count of Croissy wrote at the start of the campaign. The remnants that might carry the King of Sweden back to Poland, at the head of “nos rebelles”, are shut up with him in Stralsund and should be destroyed while that is possible. Wackerbarth will write to General Dücker once the guns are in battery, and ask Count Virmond, the Emperor’s minister, to come, so that peace can be treated under the Emperor’s mediation.

Of the 922 cipher words, 741 are counted as deciphered (80.4%; section 07). Brice Dudout himself answered a blind plate of nine doubtful digit shapes, with two controls; three digits were corrected. The plate checks how digits are written, not what they stand for.

06 To Flemming, 24 April 1717

This letter was deciphered at the time. The sheet at ff. 33–33v is headed “Le C.te de Wackerbarth du 24. d’avril 1717”. As transcribed (399 words, one doubtful) it starts where the cipher of f. 29 starts, “vues du Roy de Suede sur la Pologne”, and runs to where the cipher of f. 32 ends, “le traité qui est requis”. The text given here is that sheet, with a translation: the King of Sweden’s designs on Poland and a landing near Danzig; the fear that Sweden may detach the Czar from the League; and the exchange of the county of Hanau, for which the consents of the Electors must be won directly and not through the Emperor.

The rebuilt key was run on the cipher of views 0037–0039 as a check: 180 of its 207 cipher words are counted under the rule below, and the sense agrees with the sheet. The check was not blind, since the sheet had been transcribed first. That the sheet covers the whole cipher follows from the transcriptions; it was not compared again with the scans at verification.

07 How the words were counted

Brice Dudout marked every cipher word as certain, probable, restored or unresolved, but by different rules in the two letters. In Relation XXII a word containing a number absent from the key is “restored” and not counted. In the 1715 letter the same kind of word is “probable” and counted. His figures were 89.5% for Relation XXII and 96.75% for the 1715 letter.

For this page both letters were recounted from the files under one strict rule. A script (integration_recount.py) aligns each word of the reading on the cipher numbers under it. A word is counted only when the contributor read it and every letter of it, as read, is given by the gloss value of the number under it, from a gloss of the time in either volume. A word is not counted when a number under it has only a value deduced from the sense, when a number with a gloss value is read as another letter, when such a number inside the word is passed over, or when a letter of the word has no number under it. The only spelling differences allowed are u/v, i/j/y, a consonant written once or doubled, “est” of the time read “ét” (estat, estre), and “à” + “le roy” read “au Roy”.

Letter	Cipher words	Counted	Share
Relation XXII, June 1717	716	634	88.5%
Stralsund, 20 November 1715	922	741	80.4%
Both	1,638	1,375	83.9%

In Relation XXII the rule adds 23 words that were marked restored only because key c lacks 4 = x or 76 = st (16 x-words and 7 st-words: aux, paix, exécution, loix, Laxenbourg, majesté, juste, instructions and others), and one unresolved number: “se rendroit de Laxenbourg à 306” is “à Vienne”. It takes out 31 words the contributor counted: “le Czar” in view 0097, which rests on a number probably misread, and words where the reading gives a number with a gloss value other letters or supplies one, such as “garantir” on 4 = x (the same 4-for-7 slip as “le Czar”), “se” on 78, “donner” on “donqer” and “du” from “d” alone.

In the 1715 letter it takes out 151 words the contributor counted. 53 rest on values deduced inside the letter or taken from the non-blind reading of 24 April, above all 96 = le (19 words), 72 = ch (8) and 1000 = et (6). 37 read a number with a gloss value as other letters or pass it over (“devant” on “desant”, “assaut” on “attaut”, “Poel” on “poeh”). 61 have letters with no number under them; in 36 of these the cipher stops after at least three letters of the word (“réellem”, “allem”, “Strals”). These may be the clerk’s abbreviations, but the transcription records no abbreviation mark, so they are not counted; counting them would give 84.3%. Both letters are under the 95% bar, so both count as partial. Brice Dudout’s own figures were 89.5% and 96.75%. The rule was made strict after a second reader checked this page; the first recount had dropped a word only when a number under it had no gloss value at all, and gave 92.7% and 91.2%.

08 What remains open

Values from a gloss of the time come from a known plaintext (grade C). Values deduced from the sense are inferred (grade I) and are not counted. Numbers with a doubtful digit are uncertain (grade M).

Relation XXII, 82 words not counted. 43 restored and 8 unresolved by the reader, and 31 of the words he counted (above). Numbers with an inferred value only: 79 = la (12 times), 1000 = et (5), 40 = b (4), 73 = z (4), 38 = h (4), 92 = t (3), 89 = z (3), and once each 93 = d, 98 = la, 11 = k, 48 = le, 118 = est. Codes with no value: 4527, 289, 172, 169, 184 and 1900205. Two spelled words do not form.
The 1715 letter, 181 words not counted. 53 rest on inferred values: 96 = le, 72 = ch, 1000 = et, 85 = st, 64 = c, 70 = x, 73, 284 = comte, 40 = b, 609, 11. 98 have a number read as other letters, a number passed over, or letters with no number under them; the scans would have to be read again, blind, to settle them. Twelve are restored by the reader. Eighteen are unresolved: the numbers 183, 251, 270, 400, 357, 358 (twice), 365, 4008, 10009, 680, 68 and 94, and five spelled words. In view 0386 right, line 3, the 96 may be a 46.
1000 = et, 40 = b and 11 = k were inferred in both letters separately and agree. No gloss gives them.
Three numbers in Relation XXII are probably misread, each a 7 with a hooked head taken for a 4: 174 for 177 (le Czar), 4 for 7, and 184 for 187 (le roi de Suède). They were left as transcribed and not re-read on the scans.
No ground-truth pass for key c. The declared test failed, and no other glossed letter of 300 numbers or more is left in the 1717 volume to repeat it.
An original key may survive. DECODE holds key records from Dresden, Loc. 03233/02, among them a key of Flemming with Wackerbarth. They were not tried on this cipher. This was not checked here.
No person has read the readings against the scans. Beyond the two sample pages, the transcription rests on AI agents.

09 Simultaneous work: A.-S. Rous

Anne-Simone Rous works on the cipher correspondence of Wackerbarth and Flemming. Her paper “The Keys of Diplomacy. The encrypted correspondence of Saxon-Polish Ministers Wackerbarth and Flemming 1700–1720” (HistoCrypt 2024) is where Brice Dudout found both volumes. By his statement the readings were made without contact with her and without her transcriptions, and nothing else of hers was used. They should be cited as simultaneous, independent work alongside hers; she may have gone further.

The paper could not be opened while this page was prepared: the repository of the University of Tartu refused every route tried on 11 and 12 November 2026. Only its abstract could be consulted. It says the paper presents tentative results of the first phase of a project on the whole correspondence of 1698 to 1728, from examples of 1700, 1706, 1715, 1717 and the 1720s. What follows is the contributor’s report of the paper and was not checked here: that she describes the 1717 system as numbers of one to three digits, mostly two, with 355 and 1000 in the nomenclator; that she lists the 1717 letter as not deciphered, including one of “24th July 1717” at ff. 29–33, which he takes for the letter of 24 April; and that she reports a glossed simple substitution in 1715. He adds that he may have misread her account.

Full texts

The transcription and the decryption of every document on this page, so that the reading can be used and checked. Short files are shown here; all are in the repository.

Relation XXII, Wackerbarth to Augustus II, Vienna 14-16 June 1717 read in part

Chancellor Sinzendorf, by order of Charles VI, proposes to Wackerbarth (and the day before to Saint-Saphorin) a concert of the Emperor, the King of Poland and the King of England to restore the tranquillity of the Empire and an entire peace in the North on a just balance; Saint-Saphorin, as Wackerbarth reports it ('Selon lui'), thinks it might go as far as a triple alliance (his opinion, not Sinzendorf's proposal); the stay of the Russians in the Empire is referred to the Diet of Ratisbon and the directors of the Circles; George I wants the same measures regarding Poland and nothing returned to the King of Sweden; strict secrecy.

Builds coherent sentences, but under the read bar of 95% of words read as sense (88% here); the holes are marked in the reading.

Transcription: transcription.txt

Decryption: decryption.txt

Reading

reading.md

# wackerbarth1717 - reading of Relation XXII (French, spelling of the copy), Vienna 14-16 June 1717

**Project count (strict, 12 Nov 2026): 634 of 716 cipher words = 88.5%, read in part** (`integration_recount.py`: a word
counts only when every letter of it as read is given by the gloss value of the number under it, in either volume). The
share lines further down ("641 / 716 = 89.5%", "The share we report is 89.5%") are the contributor's own count, not the
project's.

Status: read in part. The contributor's count (641 of 716 = 89.5%) leaves out the 24 words marked [restored] or unresolved
whose only missing value is 4 = x, 76 = st or 306 = Vienne, which the glosses of the 1715 volume supply (so "à ‹306›" in view
0090 reads "à Vienne"); the project's count takes them in. It counts 31 words that the project's count does not: {Czar} in
view 0097, which rests on a number probably misread, "de" in view 0094 D17 (its e is taken by 79 = la), and 29 words where the reading gives a gloss-valued number other
letters, passes one over or supplies a letter (e.g. {garantir} on "xarentir", {se} on 78, {donner} on "donqer", du from "d"
alone). The marks in the text are the contributor's and are unchanged.

Relation XXII of August Christoph von Wackerbarth to King Augustus II ("Sire"), copy, Vienna, 14-16 June 1717. Dresden,
Sächsisches Hauptstaatsarchiv, 10026 Geheimes Kabinett, Loc. 00713/01, ff. 71-80v (views 0089-0099). The letter mixes clear
French and cipher. Read by sense from `decryption.txt` (frozen key c, frozen transcription), following the frozen rules of
`frozen/AVENANT-3.md` §3. The working fiche is `frozen/lecture/R22-lecture.txt` (hashed in `frozen/LECTURE-AV3.sha256`);
this page shows the same text, grouped by view.

**Simultaneous work: Anne-Simone Rous** (SBG Sachsen, Dresden) studies this cipher correspondence
(Wackerbarth - Flemming, 1700-1720) and lists the 1717 cipher as not deciphered. This reading was made independently of her
and should be cited with her work. See NOTES.md, "Prior art".

**The condition for reading was decided after the measurement.** The protocol required two tests. The ground-truth test A'
FAILED, and the held-out language test B' PASSED. Brice Dudout then accepted B' alone as the condition for reading this
letter (`frozen/AVENANT-3.md`, hashed at 18:04 on 11 Nov 2026). That decision was taken after both results were known. The 95%
rule is kept as the final check. See `validation.txt`.

## Marks

- _italic_ = words written in clear in the copy (not counted).
- plain = certain (every number has a value in key c, the word is regular French of the time).
- {x} = probable (one letter off on a "probable" homophone of c, or a doubtful number N/M? of the transcription).
- [x] = restored (the word contains a number absent from key c, or a letter we added from the sense).
- ‹…› = unresolved (the number is given).
- Numbers of four digits that fit no word were taken for nulls and are not shown: 5632, 5260, 5250, 6520, 5910, 4351, 3094,
  3254, 3421, 3245.
- "…" inside an italic passage = clear text that was not transcribed in full.
- Word division, accents and apostrophes are ours. The copy's spelling is kept (aye, tems, connoitre, raport, Roy).

## Text

**[view 0089]** quoique jusqu'ici j'aye dit à Votre [majesté] que _selon toute apparence la Cour Imperiale_ tâcheroit de gagner {le} tems qui _pourroit l'eclaircir sur l'issue de la campagne de Hongrie, avant qu'elle feroit connoitre ses veritables sentiments par raport a_ [aux] affaires du {N.} je n'ai pourtant rien {obmis} qui ait pu m'en éclaircir _de plus près, ayant à cette fin toujours continué à faire des representations convenables_

**[view 0090]** jusqu'à ce qu'à la fin le comte de [Sinzendorff] chancelier de _la Cour m'a fait savoir_ lundi passé qu'il avoit ordre de me parler de la part de l'Empereur _qu'il_ se rendroit de [Laxenbourg] à ‹306› et qu'il me prioit de m'y trouver alors chez lui _Ayant satisfait à sa demande il me dit : que_ l'Empereur lui avoit ordonné de me faire savoir comme quoi _après une mure deliberation sur la situation des affaires_ ‹4527› du nord l'Empereur {avoit} pris [la] {résolution} de venir [aux] _moyens les plus convenables à faciliter le_ [rétablissement] de la tranquillité de l'Empire et de [la] [paix] [entière] du [nord] ‹…r› des _fondements assés solides pour en_ assurer [la] durée _Mais, comme il seroit difficile d'obtenir ce but, sans qu'on eut pour objet de l'etablir sur un_

**[view 0091]** [juste] {équilibre} [et] d'y procéder selon la [circonstance] de _la conjoncture avec toute la_ circonspection nécessaire pour les conformer [aux] [loix] de l'Empire _àfin d'y procurer par son_ [approbation] l'autorité nécessaire l'Empereur _dans la persuasion de trouver auprés de_ le Roy et le Roy d'Angleterre des {sentim.} conformes [aux] désirs qu' ‹289› _à cette occasion_ lui [Sinzendorf] venoit de me {donner} à connoître de la part de l'Empereur et pour {convaincre} le Roy en particulier de _la confiance, qu'il avoit en_ le Roy lui avoit voulu faire l'ouverture de la disposition où il se trouvoit d'entrer avec Votre [majesté] [et] le Roy d'Angleterre _confidemment_ dans un concert sur ce qu'il y auroit à faire et à {observer} tant _dans la negociation que dans_

**[view 0092]** [l'exécution] pour {rétablir} [la] tranquillité dans l'Empire et la [paix] dans {le} nord _Etant donc necessaire de convenir à cette fin d'un_ plan pour servir de règle tant dans cette négociation que dans [l'exécution] et l'Empereur venant de communiquer au Roy _ses sentiments sur la_ {base} de ce plan l'Empereur s'attendoit _maintenant_ à ce que sur cette [base] le Roy voulut en échange _confidemment_ communiquer ses {sentim.} _: par raport au_ détail {nécessaire} {pour} faciliter les concerts en [question] que par ordre de l'Empereur lui {le} {comte} de Sinsendorff avoit déjà fait hier la même ouverture à St Saphorin pour {se} mettre en état _de se procurer_ des ordres et [instructions] _à cet egard, qu'il venoit ainsi me le dire aussi pour que je fisse la même chose. ⟨Que⟩, quant à lui: il avoit_

**[view 0093]** {obtenu} de l'Empereur [la] permission d'aller _dans une affaire_ particulière qu'il lui importoit {beaucoup} {faire} un tour à [Inspruck] voyage où il mettroit [douze] à [quinze] jours _en quoi il y auroit d'autant moins de tems perdu, qu'il ⟨en⟩ faudroit meme plus à_ St Saphorin et _peutetre aussi_ à moi pour nous procurer {les} ordres [et] instructions nécess. _: àfin de pouvoir ensuite entrer avec d'autant plus de fondement en matiere. Pour conclusion il y ajouta par raport à_ [la] demeure des Russes dans l'Empire que l'Empereur remettroit de nouveau cette affaire à [la] diète de {Ratisbonne} _que_ ‹172› _etoit chargé de m'en parler; que quant à_ [l'expédition] qui se faisoit dans la {chancellerie} d'Autriche pour _le ministre de ce caractere subsistant à_

**[view 0094]** {Ratisbonne} elle étoit déjà partie _Ce qu'il m'en a dit de plus, est conforme à ce que j'ai deja eu l'honneur de mander à Votre Majesté dans ma relation conjointement signée avec Mr. de ⟨Sech⟩ le 9. de ce mois touchant la_ convocation d'un [congrez] particulier pour {abréger} [les] [délibérations] [et] pour faciliter [l'exécution] _le cas l'exigeant. Il y a apparence, qu'à cette occasion_ l'Empereur pourroit entrer avec le Roy et le Roy d'Angleterre dans {quelque} concert _par raport à_ [aux] Russes _si de notre coté on y laissoit entrevoir quelque envie. Ce que Mr. de_ St Saphorin _m'a depuis donné à connoitre de_ l'ouverture que {le} [chancelier] de la {cour} le comte {de} [Sinzendorf] lui a fait _de la part de l'Empereur au sujet de_ {des} {affaires} du nord [et] de [la] demeure des Russes dans l'Empire _est entierement conforme conforme à tout ce que_ ce comte m'a {dit} par ordre de l'Empereur et que _j'ai eu l'honneur de rapporter ci-dessus. Il m'a en meme tems assuré, qu'il alloit incessament_

**[view 0095]** écrire à sa cour pour demander les plein pouvoir [vu] _que je lui avois dit, qu'il feroit bien, de_ se procurer pour se mettre en état _de pouvoir_ entrer de la part du {Roy} son maître dans ce traité d'une plus étroite liaison _dont il avoit eté question. Selon lui: la Cour Imperiale ayant_ été portée jusqu'à [la] démarche de nous faire connoître sa disposition _à l'egard des_ affaires du nord l' _affaire_ pourroit même {être} menée au point d'en venir à une triple alliance entre l'Empereur le Roy d'Angleterre et le Roy _à quelle occasion il croyoit pouvoir apporter beaucoup de facilité à la_ négociation _Vûque regardant les choses ⟨en⟩ de notre coté, ou du coté de la Cour_

**[view 0096]** impér. on rencontroit des difficultés à [s'expliquer] les {premiers} de sorte que lui comme un troisième _pourroit le faire, et ainsi applanir les difficultés._ {l'observation} du secret dans _cette affaire, Sire, est d'autant plus_ recommandée _que je sai de très bonne part, que le_ {les} ministres de l'Empereur {qui} ont {le} timon entre les {mains} n'ont pas voulu _seulement_ admettre un référendaire à _la conference, qui s'est tenuë à cet egard et que le_ [chancelier] de la cour en a fait lui-même {le} {référat} _sur lequel_ l'Empereur a pris la résolution que {ledit} chancelier {a} {donné} à {connoître} à St [Saphorin] et à moi _Votre Majesté trouvera donc maintenant ici l'effet de_ ses assurances que ‹169› m'a donné avant son [départ] et _dont j'ai fait raport dans ma relation du 12. May. A present Votre Majesté sait le_

**[view 0097]** [sentim.] de cette cour ici par raport au {Czar} _Elle voit bien, que_ l'Empereur [est] déterminé de {concerter} avec {les} directeurs des {cercles} _ce qui est necessaire pour faire_ sortir {les} Russes de l'Empire _et peutêtre même pour le_ {garantir} de {leur} retour _Votre Majesté est de plus informée, comme quoi l'intention du_ le Roy d'Angleterre _va encore plus loin en ce qu'il voudroit, qu'on prit avec_ elle {les} mêmes mesures par {raport} à [la] Pologne _C'est ma relation du 22. May, qui en traite. Maintenant Votre Majesté voit aussi, que_ ‹ls› sont {les} sentiments de l'Empereur _par raport à_ [la] [paix] du {N.} elle {les} trouvera _sigrs. Sans doute_ conformes à son attente _au moins n'ai-je rien obmis qui ait pû_ porter [la] chose à son {but} _à quoi il me reste seulemt. d'ajouter pour l'information de Votre Majesté, que selon l'intention du_

**[view 0098]** le Roy d'Angleterre _on ne doit plus_ rendre au ‹184› un pouce de terre des provinces allemandes qu'il a perdues dans l'Empire _A l'occasion, où le_ [chancelier] de la cour m'a fait l'ouverture _ci-dessus de_ [la] {part} de l'Empereur _je lui ai rafraichi la memoire … Ce ministre m'ayant donné à connoitre qu'en_ chemin il auroit {le} plus de loisir à {les} lire avec l'attention nécessaire _Ne pouvant donc dans cette affaire rien faire de plus avant le_ retour du comte de [Sinzendorff] ni avant [la] réception des [nouveaux] ordres et [instructions] ‹1900205› _de Votre Majesté, je me servirai … qui sera_

**[view 0099]** environ d'une [quinzaine] de jours _des bains de Bade, … que je_ m'y rendisse pour prendre moi-même ses ordres je me {tiendrois} {vers} ce tems là prêt pour aller au-devant _de ce qu'il pourra_ plaire au Roy de m'ordonner _à Vienne. le 16. Juin .1717._

## Count (Daniel's rule; cipher words only)

| class | words |
|---|---|
| certain | 575 |
| probable {x} | 66 |
| restored [x] | 66 |
| unresolved ‹…› | 9 |
| **total** | **716** |

**Certain + probable = 641 / 716 = 89.5%: read in part.** With the restored words: 707 / 716 = 98.7%.
Counted by `frozen/scripts/compte_lecture.py` on `frozen/lecture/R22-lecture.txt`; it gives the same figures again.

- Probable words: one letter rests on a "probable" value of c. The commonest cases are 20 (c says ee; the reading wants b:
  obmis, Ratisbonne, base, observer, rétablir, beaucoup, abréger, but), 78 (c says t; the reading wants le / les) and 13 (m or c).
- Restored words: each contains a number that is absent from key c. Most are 4 (x: aux, paix, exécution, loix, Laxenbourg),
  79 (la), 76 (st: majesté, juste, instructions), 38 (h: chancelier), 40 (b), 73 and 89 (z: Sinzendorf, douze, quinze),
  92 (t) and 1000 (et). There are also single cases: 11 (Inspruc-k), 48 (les), 93 (nor-d), 98 (la) and 118 (est).
- Unresolved: ‹306› (a place name: "se rendroit de Laxenbourg à ‹306›"); ‹4527› (before "du nord"); ‹…r› (296/290);
  ‹289›; ‹172› (a person: "‹172› étoit chargé de m'en parler"); ‹169› (a person who gave assurances "avant son départ");
  ‹ls› (a cipher word read "ls", perhaps "quels"); ‹184› (see Reservations); ‹1900205› (a run with no reading).

## A variant that was NOT adopted

Nine homophones are absent from c but appear at least three times in independent words of this letter: 4 x (18 times),
79 la (12), 76 st (7), 1000 et (5), 38 h (4), 40 b (4), 73 z (4), 89 z (3) and 92 t (3). If they counted as probable, the
share would be about **97.9%**. That would need a fourth amendment, a second decision taken after the measurement, and Brice
Dudout has not taken it. **The share we report is 89.5%.** These values are listed as proposals in `key.tsv` section B.

## Reservations

- **Three numbers are probably misread, by the same misreading** (a "ч"-shaped 7 read as 4). They are left as frozen in the
  transcription and counted as they stand:
  - view 0097 G07, transcribed "174?": the sense and the sub-agent's second look (after freezing) give 177 = le Czar
    ("par raport au Czar");
  - view 0097 G15, transcribed "4?": the sense gives 7 = g ("garantir");
  - view 0098 G03, transcribed "184?": the sense gives 187 = le roi de Suède. That value is proved by the decipherment
    sheet of 24 April 1717. Here it is left as ‹184›, unresolved.
- view 0089 M03 "89/39?": read 89 (Sinzendorf).
- view 0094 D11 "de la c‹4›our": one number too many, a slip of the cipher clerk or of our transcription.
- "du N." (0089 L09, 0097 D11) = du Nord, abbreviated by the clerk.
- The clear name "⟨Sech⟩" (0094 G10) has an ornate initial and is doubtful. Zech, the Saxon resident, is likely; this is
  not checked.
- Nobody has re-read the doubtful numbers blind on the images. AI agents only: no human has checked the reading against
  the scans.

Translation

translation.md

# wackerbarth1717 - English translation of Relation XXII (Vienna, 14-16 June 1717)

Translation of `reading.md`, the clear and the cipher words together, as one text. Marks: [x] = restored word; <...> = unresolved
(number given); (...) = our gloss; "…" = clear text not transcribed in full. Probable words are not marked here (see
`reading.md`). The reading is partial (88.5% under the target's one strict rule; 89.5% by the contributor's count), so this translation is of a partial reading.
Integration note (12 Nov 2026): <306> in view 0090 is Vienna, by a gloss of the time in the 1715 volume (Loc. 00712/05, view 0389).

**[view 0089]** Although I have so far told Your [Majesty] that, to all appearances, the Imperial Court would try to gain time,
which might enlighten it on the outcome of the campaign in Hungary, before it made known its true sentiments regarding the
affairs of the North, I have nevertheless omitted nothing that could enlighten me more closely, having to this end constantly
continued to make suitable representations,

**[view 0090]** until at last Count [Sinzendorf], Chancellor of the Court, let me know last Monday that he had orders to speak
to me on behalf of the Emperor; that he would come from [Laxenburg] to <306>, and that he asked me to meet him at his house
then. When I had complied with his request, he told me that the Emperor had ordered him to let me know that, after mature
deliberation on the situation of the affairs <4527> of the North, the Emperor had taken the resolution to come to the most
suitable means of furthering the [re-establishment] of the tranquillity of the Empire and of an [entire] [peace] in the [North]
<...> on foundations solid enough to secure its duration. But, since it would be difficult to reach that aim unless one sought
to found it on a

**[view 0091]** [just] balance [and] to proceed, according to the [circumstances] of the moment, with all the circumspection
needed to make them agree with the [laws] of the Empire, so as to obtain through its [approval] the necessary authority: the
Emperor, persuaded that he would find with the King and the King of England sentiments agreeing with the wishes that <289>
he [Sinzendorf] had just made known to me on this occasion on the Emperor's behalf, and in order to convince the King in
particular of the confidence he had in him, had wished to make him the overture of his readiness to enter, in confidence, with
Your [Majesty] [and] the King of England into a concert on what would have to be done and observed both in the negotiation
and in

**[view 0092]** the [execution], in order to restore tranquillity in the Empire and [peace] in the North. It being therefore
necessary to agree for this purpose on a plan to serve as a rule both in this negotiation and in the [execution], and the
Emperor having just communicated to the King his sentiments on the basis of this plan, the Emperor now expected that on this
[basis] the King would in return communicate, in confidence, his sentiments on the details needed to further the concerts in
[question]. By order of the Emperor he, Count Sinzendorf, had already made the same overture yesterday to St Saphorin (the
British minister), so that he could put himself in a position to obtain orders and [instructions] on this; he had come to tell
me the same so that I might do likewise. As for himself, he had

**[view 0093]** obtained from the Emperor [leave] to go, on a private affair that mattered much to him, on a journey to
[Innsbruck], where he would spend [twelve] to [fifteen] days; little time would be lost by it, since St Saphorin, and perhaps I
too, would need even more to obtain the necessary orders and instructions, so as to be able afterwards to enter into the matter
on firmer ground. In conclusion he added, regarding the stay of the Russians in the Empire, that the Emperor would once more
refer this affair to the Diet of Ratisbon (Regensburg); that <172> had been charged to speak to me of it; and that, as for the
[dispatch] being made in the Austrian chancery for

**[view 0094]** the minister of that rank residing at Ratisbon, it had already gone. What more he told me agrees with what I
already had the honour of reporting to Your Majesty in my relation signed jointly with Mr de ⟨Sech⟩ (probably Zech) on the 9th
of this month, touching the convocation of a particular [congress] to shorten [the] [deliberations] [and] to further the
[execution], should the case require it. It seems likely that on this occasion the Emperor could enter with the King and the
King of England into some concert regarding the Russians, if some wish for it were shown on our side. What Mr de St Saphorin
has since let me know of the overture that the [Chancellor] of the Court, Count [Sinzendorf], made to him on the Emperor's
behalf about the affairs of the North [and] about the stay of the Russians in the Empire

**[view 0095]** agrees entirely with all that this count told me by order of the Emperor and that I have had the honour of
reporting above. He assured me at the same time that he would at once write to his court to ask for the full powers, [since]
I had told him he would do well to obtain them, so as to be able to enter on behalf of the King his master into this treaty
of a closer union which had been in question. In his view, the Imperial Court having been brought as far as the step of letting
us know its disposition regarding the affairs of the North, the affair could even be carried to the point of a **triple
alliance between the Emperor, the King of England and the King**; on that occasion he believed he could make the negotiation
much easier,

**[view 0096]** since, looking at things from our side or from the side of the Imperial Court, there were difficulties about
who would [declare himself] first, so that he, as a third party, could do it and so smooth the difficulties. The keeping of
secrecy in this affair, Sire, is all the more recommended as I know from a very good quarter that the Emperor's ministers who
hold the helm would not even admit a referendary to the conference held on this matter, and that the [Chancellor] of the Court
himself made the report on it, on which the Emperor took the resolution that the said Chancellor made known to St [Saphorin]
and to me. Your Majesty will therefore now find here the effect of the assurances that

**[view 0097]** <169> gave me before his [departure], and of which I reported in my relation of 12 May. Your Majesty now knows
the [sentiment] of this court regarding the Czar. You see that the Emperor [is] determined to concert with the directors of
the Circles what is needed to make the Russians leave the Empire, and perhaps even to guarantee it against their return. Your
Majesty is further informed how the intention of the King of England goes further still, in that he would wish the same
measures to be taken with you regarding [the] Poland question; my relation of 22 May deals with it. Now Your Majesty also sees
<ls> (what) are the Emperor's sentiments regarding [the] [peace] of the North; you will no doubt find them agreeing with your
expectation. At least I have omitted nothing that could bring [the] matter to its end.

**[view 0098]** It only remains for me to add, for Your Majesty's information, that according to the intention of the King of
England <184> (probably 187, the King of Sweden; see Reservations in `reading.md`) is no longer to be given back an inch of
land of the German provinces he has lost in the Empire. On the occasion when the [Chancellor] of the Court made me the above
overture on the Emperor's behalf, I refreshed his memory … (clear passage, not transcribed in full; our working summary says
that Wackerbarth handed over copies of four Saxon-Danish treaties, 1709, 1711, 1712 and 1713, to be checked on the image).
This minister having let me know that he would have most leisure on the road to read them with the attention needed. Since
nothing more can be done in this affair before Count [Sinzendorf] returns, nor before [the] receipt of [new] orders and
[instructions] <1900205> from Your Majesty, I shall make use of … which will be

**[view 0099]** about a [fortnight] … of the baths of Baden … that I should go there to take his orders myself, I would hold
myself ready about that time to go and meet whatever it may please the King to order me. Vienna, 16 June 1717.

## Summary

Wackerbarth reports that the Imperial Court, which had been waiting for the outcome of the Hungarian campaign, has at last
spoken. The Chancellor Count Sinzendorf, by order of Charles VI, proposes a concert between the Emperor, the King of Poland
(Augustus II) and the King of England (George I). Its aim is to restore the tranquillity of the Empire and an entire peace in
the North on a "just balance", in keeping with the laws of the Empire. The same overture
was made the day before to Saint-Saphorin, George I's minister, who thinks (in Wackerbarth's report: "Selon lui") that it might
go as far as a triple alliance; the triple alliance is his opinion, not part of Sinzendorf's proposal. The stay of the Russian troops in the Empire goes to the Diet of
Ratisbon and to the directors of the Circles. The Emperor is determined to get the Russians out and perhaps to guarantee against
their return. George I wants the same measures "regarding Poland" and will give back to the King of Sweden no part of his lost
German provinces. Strict secrecy: the conference was held without even a referendary. Wackerbarth will take the waters at
Baden while Sinzendorf is in Innsbruck.

Wackerbarth to Flemming, Vienna 24 April 1717 (read from the decipherment of the time)

The King of Sweden's designs on Poland (a landing near Danzig); the fear that Sweden may detach the Czar from the Northern League, which Vienna should thwart; the Hanau exchange: the Electors' consents must be won directly, not through the Emperor (promise of Ferdinand II to John George I); request for full power and a draft treaty.

Transcription

a24_transcription.txt

# wackerbarth1717 - transcription of the cipher of Wackerbarth to Flemming, Vienna 24 April 1717 (letter no. 15, "Monsieur")
# Dresden, Sächsisches Hauptstaatsarchiv, 10026 Geheimes Kabinett, Loc. 00713/01, ff. 29-32 (views 0037-0040).
# Frozen transcription files concatenated, unchanged below each "=====" line (hashes: frozen/releves/A24-A.sha256, A24-B.sha256,
# A.sha256). 0037-0039 by a Claude Opus 5.5 sub-agent, 0040 by the main agent, 11 Nov 2026, before any decoding.
# The decipherment of the time on a separate sheet (views 0042-0043, f. 33-33v) renders ALL of this cipher; our transcription
# of that sheet is frozen/releves/A-FEUILLE-0042-0043.txt. Conventions as in transcription.txt. No image included.
===== A24-0037.txt
# A24 — lettre W→F, Vienne 24/04/1717 (« Monsieur », n° « 15. » en tête), sans glose — relevé du chiffre, scan 0037 (fichier ; mire « Aufnahme Einheit » = 0038)
# Page g du scan = autre feuille (texte en miroir / à l'envers), sans chiffre lisible : non relevée.
# Main : « lo » = 10, « 1q » = 19, « 6o » = 60. 5 + « 1 » droit = 51 ; 5 + « 7 » (barre ou forme γ) = 57 ; forme intermédiaire = 57/51?.
# Transparence du verso (chiffres en miroir) visible entre les lignes : non relevée. Un long trait oblique traverse les lignes D02–D05 (non compté).
# SCAN 0037 page d (f. 29) — folio « 29 » et date « 24. avril 1717. » en haut à droite
## passage 1
T-avant: Il court ici la meme nouvelle, dont V. E. m'a fait part dans la lettre mentionnée touchant
D01 C: {les} 29 5 6 2 29 53/93? 6 187 57/51? 6 60 110 292 {et}
D01 X: signe « v » (renvoi ?) au-dessus, entre « les » et 29 ; « les » terminé par un « s » plongeant (corrigé ?) ; tache d'encre sur 53/93 et sur 57/51 ; 53/93 : premier chiffre à boucle
D02 C: {on y ajoute cette particularité, que son intenti-}
D03 C: {on est, de} 28 10? 24 52 10 60 6 14 2 53 10 29
D03 X: après 28 : « ro » (= 10 ?) collé à « 24 », sans point net, traversé par le long trait (peut-être 1024 ou 10 24) ; « 24 » empâté
D04 C: 30 38 32 52 2 53 ~8~ 6 15/75? 16 28 2 100 10
D04 X: 8 biffé d'un trait horizontal ; 15/75 : premier chiffre à crochet en tête ; trait vertical (filet) entre 2 et 53 ; « 28,2 » virgule au lieu du point
D05 C: 314/814? 13 25 9 29 22 21 14 35 100 9 28 60 39 2
D05 X: premier chiffre de 314/814 surchargé / empâté ; séparateur « x » ou point épais après 314
T-après: a Leipzig le 8e de mai.
# T-après = mention de réception (même encre noire), en bas à droite ; fin de la page.
===== A24-0038.txt
# A24 — lettre W→F, Vienne 24/04/1717 (suite de f. 29), sans glose — relevé du chiffre, scan 0038 (fichier ; mire « Aufnahme Einheit » = 0039)
# Main : « lo » = 10, « 1q » = 19, « 6o » = 60. 5 + « 1 » droit = 51 ; 5 + « 7 » (barre ou forme γ) = 57 ; forme intermédiaire = 57/51?.
# Un long trait vertical (pli / trait de plume) traverse chaque page ; transparence du verso (chiffres et « a Leipzig le 8e de mai » en miroir) non relevée.
# Plusieurs nombres soulignés (signalés en X) ; le soulignement n'est pas un jeton.
# SCAN 0038 page g (f. 29v)
## passage 1 (suite du chiffre de f. 29, 0037)
T-avant: (fin de f. 29 : « … 60 39 2 » puis mention « a Leipzig le 8e de mai. », cf. A24-0037)
G01 C: 14 53 2 198
G02 C: 6 14 2 17 2 60 29 22 21 32 35 19? 54 9 {à la verité}
G02 X: 19? traversé par le long trait vertical ; « 2-60 » trait d'union au lieu du point
G03 C: {n'est pas fort considerable par son rang, mais}
G04 C: {qui frequente quelques maison des premiers mi-}
G05 C: {nistres, ou} 2 12 42 10 66 53 6 15 27 2 53 9
G06 C: 28 {m'a dit à cette occasion, que cette} 5 6
G07 C: 2? 53 6 187 14 2 57/51? 66 6 60 16 9 28 14 22
G07 X: premier nombre en forme de « α » (2 ?) ; 14 avant 22 souligné
G08 C: 54 29 35 31 20 66 60 25 77 2 60 52 66 14 28
G08 X: 52 souligné ; 25 touché par le trait vertical
G09 C: 19 6 2 14 16 6 29 57/51? 2 60 9 22 21 29 50
G09 X: 2 après 57/51 traversé par le trait vertical
G10 C: 99 6 27 2 73 53 2 51 20 16 14 21 2 51 {inten-}
G10 X: 20 souligné
G11 C: {tion} 29 53 6 177 {mais si} 187 {reussissoit}
G12 C: {dans le dessein de} 100 2 28 66 72 2 60 177
G13 C: 100 2 110 12 9 7 6 2 700 53 {etablir quel-}
G14 C: {que} 9 14 28 2 12 42 9 7 2 14 15 10 66 5
G15 C: 2 15 12 6 9 14 16 6 57/51? 17 22 6 27
G15 X: 14 souligné
G16 C: 26 9 22 21 29 2 52 6 2 13 9 29 53 66 14 29
G16 X: « 2.52 » souligné d'un trait courbe
G17 C: 6 14 2 31 25 6 5 25 9 29 2 51 9 66 28 9 16 4/9?
G17 X: séparateur « + » (ou « - ») entre 28 et 9 ; dernier nombre contre la marge, à queue descendante (4 ou 9 ?) ; réclame « 72.22 » en bas de page (= début de la p. d), non comptée
# SCAN 0038 page d (f. 30) — folio « 30 » en haut à droite
D01 C: 72 22 51 9? 66 110 19 6 2 12 44 10 {selon lui nous}
D01 X: 9? traversé par le long trait vertical
D02 C: {ne saurions donner trop d'attention.}
D03 C: {Là dessus je lui ai donné à connoitre, comme}
D04 C: {quoi cela arrivant} 15 2 119 2 30 16 6 60 15 9
D05 C: 51 2 5 10? 60 26 22 9 52 {sans doute} 53 66
D05 X: 10? : premier chiffre caché par le trait vertical
D06 C: 14 29 6 14 2 17 12 6 29 13 25 6 5 50 9 29
D07 C: 35 57/51? 9? 28 6 50 28 39 22 14 19 54 35 14 22
D07 X: 9? traversé par le trait vertical
D08 C: 54 51 50 6 28 60 2 51 {de sorte qu'elle devoit}
D08 X: 50 touché par le trait vertical
D09 C: {aussi avoir plus d'interêt que nous à} 28 60 50
D10 C: 5 2 26 29 10 60 15 2 119 20/10? 14 35 4/7? 22 15/18?
D10 X: 26 touché par le trait vertical ; 20/10 : premier chiffre en « z » ; 4/7 : chiffre en « ч » ; dernier nombre 15/18 (second chiffre fermé)
D11 C: 9 25 28 39 22 14 100 2 110 31 6 2 100 10
D11 X: trait horizontal au-dessus de 31 (non compté) ; 28 touché par le trait vertical
D12 C: 2 28 17 60 2 5 2 14 9 60 17 25 60 12 66
D13 C: 12 2 29 57/51? 6 9 28 2 57/51? 19 6 2 12 42
D14 C: 10 66 5 22 9 28 25 15 60 9 14 100 27
D14 X: « 66. » écrit au-dessus de la ligne entre 60 et 9 (ajout ou correction ?), non compté
D15 C: 2
D16 C: 154 66 6 27 25 5 6 17 25 24/27? 13 66 26 2
D16 X: ligne en retrait (alinéa) ; 24/27 : second chiffre en « ч »
D17 C: 12 66 28 9 16 14 53 6 364 120 2 15 10 13 16 9
D17 X: séparateur « : » entre 53 et 6 ; pas de réclame visible
T-après: (aucun clair après le chiffre sur ce scan ; la suite est au scan 0039)
===== A24-0039.txt
# A24 — lettre du 24 avril 1717 (W→F, sans glose) — relevé du chiffre, scan 0039 (fichier ; mire « Aufnahme Einheit » = 0040), f. 30v–31
# Main : 9 en « q » à longue queue (parfois « y ») ; 4 fermé barré ; 7 souvent avec amorce bouclée en tête (forme « ч »), y compris dans 77, 17, 67 — distinct du 4 barré ;
# 13 souvent lié (« ß ») ; « lo » = 10 ; « 5ı » = 51 / « 5ɼ » (crochet) = 57, formes intermédiaires notées 51/57?.
# Un long trait de plume ondulé, postérieur, descend verticalement à travers les deux pages (non compté) ; là où il recouvre un chiffre, voir X.
# Aucune glose interlinéaire. Des nombres ajoutés entre les lignes (corrections/insertions) sont décrits en X et non comptés, sauf « N>M ».
T-avant: — (le chiffre commence en tête de f. 30v ; pas de clair avant sur ce scan)
# SCAN 0039 page g (f. 30v) — pas de folio en haut
G01 C: 57 15 22 14 9 33 9 14 28 2 13 29 9 7 21/121? 2 10
G01 X: séparateur « : » après 13 ; le grand trait commence par une haste verticale collée devant 21 (lire 21 ou 121 ?)
G02 C: 66 5 2 30 73 2 72 {ce que j'ai dit touchant}
G03 C: 6 14 2 14 52 60 2 28 9 10 14 66 6 57 6
G04 C: 39/89? 2 52 53 54 15 33 31 52 2 53 2 8 66
G04 X: 39/89 : premier chiffre très encré ; trait vertical en pointillé sous le 52 du milieu (non compté)
G05 C: 14 66 54
G05 X: fin de paragraphe (ligne courte)
G06 C: 9 12 2 51 52 53 6 14 2 32 10 15 2 77
G06 X: ligne en retrait (nouveau paragraphe)
G07 C: 9 28 2 36 14 53 9 29 17 2 14 51 66 40?
G07 X: le 2 après 17 traversé par le grand trait ; « 14.51 » serrés et repassés ; 40 : 4 très encré avec une queue descendante (surcharge ?)
G08 C: 12 2 19 6 2 14 16 6 29 14? 2 17 2 60
G08 X: le premier 14 souligné ; second 14 : le 1 caché par le grand trait
G09 C: 100 9 22 14 57 17 66 29 6 14 13 16 19/13?
G09 X: pas de point visible entre 22 et 14 (liés par un trait) ; 29 traversé par le grand trait ; dernier nombre « 1ʒ »
G10 C: 2 21 28 66 14 22 6 57 17 60 30 6 27
G10 X: 66 souligné, avec un trait vers le bas ; sous la ligne, entre G10 et G11, « 15.22.32.51. » souligné, relié par une accolade au point après 51 de G11 (insertion ?) — non compté ; 57 traversé par le grand trait
G11 C: 2 26 103 51 2 14 28 9>2? 13 2 14 28 57
G11 X: petit trait avant 103 (non compté) ; 9 biffé/étoilé avec « 2. » écrit au-dessus ; le 7 du dernier 57 souligné
G12 C: 53/59? 2 51 10 12 2 15 52 35 6 60 29 15
G12 X: 53/59 : second chiffre très encré ; dernier 15 souligné
G13 C: 66 60 30 2 51 2 60 9>16? 28 6 14 35 13 10 60
G13 X: « 16. » écrit au-dessus du 9
G14 C: 25 20 16 9 27 2 19 6 2 53 2 17 70 60
G15 C: 57 9 76 10 77 53 66 14 29 103 57 2 14
G15 X: « 10 » de 103 souligné avec un crochet dessous (renvoi ?)
G16 C: 52 9 13 2 14 28 100 2 14 22 52 60 2
G16 X: 13 à l'encre épaisse
G17 C: 80/30? 22 21 51 2 9 12 120 2 52 66 28 19 6 2 168/169?
G17 X: 80/30 : premier chiffre à deux boucles très encré ; 168/169 : dernier chiffre bouclé à queue
G17 X: pas de réclame
# SCAN 0039 page d (f. 31) — folio « 31. » en haut à droite
D01 C: 100 22 9 28 14 22 6 29 103 29 17 27 16 15 6
D01 X: grand trait vertical devant 14
D02 C: 26 2 27 57 2 12 22 21 110 34 26 22 13
D02 X: séparateur « : » après 27 ; 57 souligné et traversé par le grand trait
D03 C: 2 77 10 100 1 2 27 100 9 14 50 32 53 356
D03 X: second 7 de 77 à amorce (« ч ») ; le dernier 0 de 100 (1er) touché par le grand trait
D04 C: 50 9 2 66 14 7 2 16 60 37 10 355 5 6 19
D04 X: 7 isolé à amorce (« ч »)
D05 C: 67 2 29 9 103 168 103 29 53 2 13 66 14 53
D05 X: 67 : 7 à amorce ; premier 103 traversé par le grand trait
D06 C: 10 50 6 4 2 12 10 15 52 2 6 60 51 9 12
D07 C: 57 12 6 9 53 10 13 66 14 53 2 60 22 14
D08 C: 52 2 14 35 72 66 14 7 2 53 2 29
D08 X: « 35: » (deux points après 35 ?)
D09 C: 90 16 51 10? 51 18 6 ~?~ 2 15 2 12 6 9 30
D09 X: 10 : le 1 caché par le grand trait ; entre « 6. » et « 2. » une tache d'encre biffant un chiffre (peut-être appartenant au nombre suivant)
D10 C: 9 14 2 51? 22 6 60 16 9 28 1 66 9 27
D10 X: 51 traversé par le grand trait
D11 C: 2 53 2 51 22 60 28 2 19 60? 14 22 21
D11 X: 51 traversé par le grand trait ; 60 : tache d'encre dans/après le 6 (« 6●0 », peut-être 6.10 ?)
D12 C: 57 12 6 12 10 13 35 32 28 21 33 54 51/57? 13
D12 X: second 12 traversé par le grand trait
D13 C: 66 14 12? 6 2 60 9 22 21 29 53 2 29
D13 X: 12 : second chiffre sous le grand trait (12 ou 18)
D14 C: 15 33 2? 51 10 14 52 2 13 10? 14 52 29
D14 X: 2 suivi du grand trait (chiffre caché ?) ; 10 après 13 repassé (encre épaisse)
D15 C: 19 6 9 14? 22 6 29 57 22 21 28 9 14 53
D15 X: 14 : le 1 caché par le grand trait
D16 C: 46 29 17? 2 14 29 66 20 12 2 ~44?~ 13 10 14
D16 X: 17 traversé par le grand trait ; second 29 souligné d'un trait ; nombre biffé d'un trait horizontal entre 2 et 13 (44 ou 43 ?) ; « : » après 14 final
D17 C: 52 32 2 15 2 77 66 9 26 2 29 17 22 6 60?
D17 X: fin « 6.6o » : point entre 6 et 60, le 0 final empâté (lire 6 60 ou 660 ?) ; la lettre continue au scan suivant (pas de T-après sur ce scan)
===== A-CHIFFRE-0040.txt
# TEST-A — chiffre de 0040 (f. 31v–32), lettre W→F Vienne 24/04/1717 — relevé agent principal, 11/11/2026, AVANT décodage
# (Avenant 1 : TEST-A réduit à 0040). Main : « lo » = 10, « 1q » = 19, « 6o » = 60. Un trait vertical traverse chaque page.
## page g (f. 31v)
L01 C: 17 25 26 5 2 14 9 60 66 19 22 52 27 2
L02 C: 20 6 28 13 66 9 29 19 6 2 14 22 6 51
L03 C: 32 33 54 51 1 2 60 13 10 60 9 22 14 29
L04 C: 17 25 60 12 66 19 22 6 51 13 2 36 10
L05 C: 110 17 22 60 28 10 53 2 103 29 16 20 28
L06 C: 2 14 9 27 14 6? 6 51 5 22 6 12 25 21 28
L06 X: « 27.14.|6.6.51 » : le groupe après 14 est coupé par le trait vertical (6 ou 16)
L07 C: 10 21 51 6 9 28 2 10 13 17 12 22 71
L08 C: 2 27 17 22 6 60 30 2 12 66
L09 C: 9 2 30 27 22 9 29 53 2 17 12 6 29 19
L10 C: 6 2 14 22 6 29 27 2 14 53 9 22 19? 29 {cette}
L11 C: {affaire} 17 12 6 29 100 9 87 39 15 46 12
L12 C: 10 700 17 12 6 29 9 14 30 2 60 28 66
L13 C: 9 14 2 71 28 60 66 5 25 9 12 42 66
L14 C: 14 28 30 22 14 9 16 9 21 28 2 13 10
L15 C: 32 28 66 5 2 30 168
L16 C: 46 10 5 22 9 29 10 14 30 33 26 2 9 16
L17 C: 6 60 52 2 17 22 6 5 33 46 60 27 2 6 9
L17 X: réclame « 77.4… » en bas à droite (= début de la p. d)
## page d (f. 32)
L18 C: 77 46 27/24? 53 66 14 29 103 17 60 22 9 2 28 66
L19 C: 12 2 7 25 27/21? 53 100 6 19 2 10 72 50 14 7 2
L20 C: 30 22 14 27/21? 6 2 66 155 17 66 60 27 50 17
L21 C: 22 60 28 66 6 15 22 13 28 2 53 2 8 66
L22 C: 19 50 6 29 9 14 22 6 29 42 33 59 51 10
L23 C: 15 12 66 9 60 30 9 71? 22 21 29 100 2 10
L24 C: 35 53 2 19 ~60~ 6 22 9 39 12 2 76 17 28
L25 C: 27 12 10 53 50 14 29 13 25 60 2 12 66
L26 C: 52 9 27? 21 15 9 53 2 77 6 51 13 2
L26 X: parenthèse ouvrante « ( » juste avant 15 (15 souligné)
L27 C: 32 52 9 22 14 32 2 10 16 6 9 2 100
L27 X: 16 souligné ; 100 souligné en L23
L28 C: 35 13 66 19 53 2 17 12 2 9 14 34 22 6
L29 C: 5 22 9 27 1000 6 19 17 27 22 9 2 57
L30 C: 35 14 1 33 60 31 2 34 22 54 27 103 28 60
L31 C: 50 ~46~ 28 2 19 6 9 2 85 27 2 19 6 9 51 {Voila ce que pour le present je puis dire à Votre Excellence…}

Decipherment of the time

A-FEUILLE-0042-0043.txt

dLe C.te de Wackerbarth du 24. d'avril 1717. 33.
# Feuille de déchiffrement d'époque, scans 0042 (f. 33) et 0043 (f. 33v). Transcrite le 11/11/2026 par l'agent Opus 5.5
# APRÈS gel de KEY-W1717 et hachage de A-CHIFFRE-0040 et B-REL22 (Avenant 1). Corrections interlinéaires retenues,
# mots biffés omis (biffés : « L'Empereur » ×2 remplacés par « du Czar » / « le Czar » ; « nous manquerions » biffé
# puis réécrit ; « par » et « meme » biffés l. 0043-9). 🔴 InC, privé.
vues du Roy de Suede sur la Pologne. on y adjoute
cette particularité, que son intention est, de tenter une
descente du coté de Danzig, maison ne dit rien de Stanislaus
une personne qui a la verité n'est pas fort considerable
par son rang, mais qui frequente quelques maisons des
premiers Ministres, ou elle a du credit, m'a dit a cette
occasion, que cette vue du Roy de Suede ne sauroit nous em:
barasser tant que nous serions asseurez des bonnes intentions
du Czar; mais si le Roy de Suede reussit dans le
dessein de detacher le Czar de la Ligue et d'etablir
quelque intelligence avec luy, nous pourrions être mis
dans une mauvaise situation, chose à laquelle selon luy
on ne sauroit donner trop d'attention. La dessus je luy ai
donné à connoitre, comme quoi cela arrivant, cette cour cy
se verroit sans doute dans une plus mauvaise situation
que nous autres. de sorte qu'elle devoit aussi avoir plus
d'interet que nous à traverser cette negociation de la Suede
et prevenir par la les suites qu'elle avoit à craindre.
V. E. aura vu par ma relation du 10e de ce mois, conjointe:
ment signé avec Zech, ce que j'ai dit touchant un
entretien avec le Comte de Hanau. Il est d'une
necessité indispensable que nous ne perdions pas un
moment a nous procurer les consentements des Electeurs
car ce seroit une mer a boire, que de persister dans
le sentiment de notre conseil d'Etat, que l'Empe:
reur doit nous les procurer selon la promesse de Ferdi:
nand second à Jean George premier, vu que si l'Empereur
les demande aux Electeurs, ils luy demanderont en echange
des choses que celuy:cy ne sauroit faire, de sorte que
non seulement nous manquerions
des consentements qui nous sont indispensablement
necessaires pour parvenir à notre but, mais que nous
nous fermerions la nous la porte de les obtenir
nous voulant en suite nous employer pour cela. Je
crois de plus que nous rendrions cette affaire plus dificile
et plus incertaine y travaillant conjointement avec
l'Empereur. Je vois encore jour de pouvoir re:
ussir dans le projet à l'egard d'une echange comme à V. E.
par rapport au comté de Hanau si nous nous eclairci:
ssons de ce de quoi il est parlé dans ma relation cy
dessus mentionnée ou je demande plein pouvoir et
un projet en forme pour le traité qui est requis.
voila ce que pour le present et:

Decryption

a24_decryption.txt

# wackerbarth1717 - raw decryption of the letter of 24 April 1717 (views 0037-0040), same script and frozen key c as decryption.txt.
# Reproduce from frozen/: python3 scripts/decode_lecture.py KEY-W1717c.tsv releves/A24-0037.txt releves/A24-0038.txt \
#   releves/A24-0039.txt releves/A-CHIFFRE-0040.txt
===== A24-0037.txt
# A24 — lettre W→F, Vienne 24/04/1717 (« Monsieur », n° « 15. » en tête), sans glose — relevé du chiffre, scan 0037 (fichier ; mire « Aufnahme Einheit » = 0038)
# Page g du scan = autre feuille (texte en miroir / à l'envers), sans chiffre lisible : non relevée.
# Main : « lo » = 10, « 1q » = 19, « 6o » = 60. 5 + « 1 » droit = 51 ; 5 + « 7 » (barre ou forme γ) = 57 ; forme intermédiaire = 57/51?.
# Transparence du verso (chiffres en miroir) visible entre les lignes : non relevée. Un long trait oblique traverse les lignes D02–D05 (non compté).
# SCAN 0037 page d (f. 29) — folio « 29 » et date « 24. avril 1717. » en haut à droite
## passage 1
D01  «les» suues(d|‹93›)u‹187›surla[LA POLOGNE] «et» 
D02  «on y ajoute cette particularité, que son intenti-» 
D03  «on est, de» teqterunedes
D04 c‹38›ntedu(c|‹75›)otede
D05 (‹314›|‹814›)maisonneditrie
# T-après = mention de réception (même encre noire), en bas à droite ; fin de la page.
===== A24-0038.txt
# A24 — lettre W→F, Vienne 24/04/1717 (suite de f. 29), sans glose — relevé du chiffre, scan 0038 (fichier ; mire « Aufnahme Einheit » = 0039)
# Main : « lo » = 10, « 1q » = 19, « 6o » = 60. 5 + « 1 » droit = 51 ; 5 + « 7 » (barre ou forme γ) = 57 ; forme intermédiaire = 57/51?.
# Un long trait vertical (pli / trait de plume) traverse chaque page ; transparence du verso (chiffres et « a Leipzig le 8e de mai » en miroir) non relevée.
# Plusieurs nombres soulignés (signalés en X) ; le soulignement n'est pas un jeton.
# SCAN 0038 page g (f. 29v)
## passage 1 (suite du chiffre de f. 29, 0037)
G01 nde‹198›
G02 unepersonnequi «à la verité» 
G03  «n'est pas fort considerable par son rang, mais» 
G04  «qui frequente quelques maison des premiers mi-» 
G05  «nistres, ou» elleaducredi
G06 t «m'a dit à cette occasion, que cette» uu
G07 edu‹187›nesauroitno
G08 usemeearassertant
G09 quenousserionsa
G10 ssure‹73›deseeonnes «inten-» 
G11  «tion» sdu[LE CZAR] «mais si» ‹187› «reussissoit» 
G12  «dans le dessein de» deta‹72›er[LE CZAR]
G13 delaligueetd «etablir quel-» 
G14  «que» intelligenceau
G15 ecluinouspour
G16 rionsetuemisdans
G17 unemauuaisesiatio(‹4›|i)
# SCAN 0038 page d (f. 30) — folio « 30 » en haut à droite
D01 ‹72›osialaquelle «selon lui nous» 
D02  «ne saurions donner trop d'attention.» 
D03  «Là dessus je lui ai donné à connoitre, comme» 
D04  «quoi cela arrivant» cettecourci
D05 seuerroit «sans doute» da
D06 nsuneplusmauuais
D07 esituationqueno
D08 usautres «de sorte qu'elle devoit» 
D09  «aussi avoir plus d'interêt que nous à» tra
D10 uersercett(ee|e)ne(‹4›|g)o(c|q)
D11 iationdelamuede
D12 etpreuenirparla
D13 lessuitesquell
D14 eauoitacrindr
D15 e
D16 [VOTRE EXCELLENCE]aurauupa(q|r)mare
D17 lationdu‹364›decemoi
===== A24-0039.txt
# A24 — lettre du 24 avril 1717 (W→F, sans glose) — relevé du chiffre, scan 0039 (fichier ; mire « Aufnahme Einheit » = 0040), f. 30v–31
# Main : 9 en « q » à longue queue (parfois « y ») ; 4 fermé barré ; 7 souvent avec amorce bouclée en tête (forme « ч »), y compris dans 77, 17, 67 — distinct du 4 barré ;
# 13 souvent lié (« ß ») ; « lo » = 10 ; « 5ı » = 51 / « 5ɼ » (crochet) = 57, formes intermédiaires notées 51/57?.
# Un long trait de plume ondulé, postérieur, descend verticalement à travers les deux pages (non compté) ; là où il recouvre un chiffre, voir X.
# Aucune glose interlinéaire. Des nombres ajoutés entre les lignes (corrections/insertions) sont décrits en X et non comptés, sauf « N>M ».
# SCAN 0039 page g (f. 30v) — pas de folio en haut
G01 sconiointemsig(n|‹121›)ee
G02 auec‹73›e‹72› «ce que j'ai dit touchant» 
G03 unentretienausu
G04 (i|‹89›)etducomtedeha
G05 nau
G06 ilestdunenecess
G07 itefndispensa‹40›
G08 lequenousneper
G09 dionspasunmo(q|m)
G10 entanousprcur
G11 erlessentements
G12 (d|t)eselecteursc
G13 arceserotunemer
G14 aeeoirequedep‹70›r
G15 si‹76›essdanslessen
G16 timentdenotre
G17 (‹80›|c)onseildetatque([L'EMPEREUR]|‹169›)
# SCAN 0039 page d (f. 31) — folio « 31. » en haut à droite
D01 doitnouslessprocu
D02 rerselonlaprom
D03 essedferdinand‹356›
D04 aieangeorge[PREMIER]uuq
D05 uesiles[L'EMPEREUR]lessdemand
D06 eau‹4›electeursil
D07 sluidemanderon
D08 tene‹72›angedes
D09 ‹90›osesqueceluic
D10 inesouroitfair
D11 edesorteqrnon
D12 slulementnousm
D13 anluerionsdes
D14 coesentements
D15 quinoussontind
D16 ispensaeelemen
D17 tnecessairespour
===== A-CHIFFRE-0040.txt
# TEST-A — chiffre de 0040 (f. 31v–32), lettre W→F Vienne 24/04/1717 — relevé agent principal, 11/11/2026, AVANT décodage
# (Avenant 1 : TEST-A réduit à 0040). Main : « lo » = 10, « 1q » = 19, « 6o » = 60. Un trait vertical traverse chaque page.
## page g (f. 31v)
L01 parueniraqotre
L02 eeutmaisquenous
L03 nousfermerions
L04 parlaqousmefe
L05 laportedelessoeet
L06 enirnuusuoulant
L07 ensuiteemploy
L08 erpourcela
L09 iecroisdeplusq
L10 uenousrendioqs «cette» 
L11  «affaire» plusdi‹87›icil
L12 eetplusincerta
L13 ineytrauailla
L14 ntconiointeme
L15 ntauec[L'EMPEREUR]
L16 ieuoisencoreio
L17 urtepouuoirreui
## page d (f. 32)
L18 ssi(r|q)danslesproieta
L19 lega(r|n)dduqee‹72›ange
L20 con(r|n)uea‹155›parrap
L21 ortaucomtedeha
L22 qausinouslotse
L23 clairciyonsdee
L24 edequoiile‹76›pt
L25 rledansmarela
L26 tirncidessusme
L27 ntionneeouied
L28 emaqdepleinpou
L29 uoir‹1000›uqproies
L30 enformepourlestr
L31 atequie‹85›requis «Voila ce que pour le present je puis dire à Votre Excellence…»

Decryption

a24_reading.md

# wackerbarth1717 - reading of the letter of 24 April 1717 (French), Wackerbarth to Flemming, Vienna

Status: read from the decipherment of the time, which renders the whole cipher. The reading below is the check of that sheet
with the rebuilt key on views 0037-0039: 180 of 207 cipher words = 87.0% under the one strict rule applied to the whole
target (12 Nov 2026, `integration_recount.py`: every letter of a counted word given by the gloss value of the number under
it); 188 of 207 = 90.8% by the contributor's count.
**This reading is not blind**: we had seen the decipherment sheet before reading.

Letter no. 15 ("Monsieur") of Wackerbarth to Jacob Heinrich von Flemming, Vienna, 24 April 1717. Dresden, HStA 10026 Loc.
00713/01, ff. 29-32 (views 0037-0040). A decipherment of the time is on a separate sheet, ff. 33-33v (views 0042-0043),
headed "Le C.te de Wackerbarth du 24. d'avril 1717". **That sheet renders all of this cipher.** It begins with "vues du Roy de
Suede sur la Pologne", which is the start of the cipher on f. 29 ("les vues du ‹187› sur la Pologne"). It does not give only
the last passage. Our transcription of the sheet is `frozen/releves/A-FEUILLE-0042-0043.txt`.

**Note on Anne-Simone Rous's paper.** Her paper on the Wackerbarth - Flemming cipher correspondence lists a letter of
"24th July 1717" (Loc. 00713/01, ff. 29-33) as not deciphered. We think it is this letter of 24 April. In the volume as
digitised, the sheet at ff. 33-33v renders its cipher from the first words to the last, in agreement with our decoding by an
independent key. We mention this as a finding, and we may have missed something in her account. She knows this corpus
far better than we do.

The letter is covered by the key test (B', Relation XXII) only by extension: same system S1, same key c. Its views 0040 and
0042-0043 were used up by the first test A, which failed. Our reading of 0037-0039 is a check against the sheet, not a new
decipherment. Marks as in `reading.md`.

## Text (our reading of the cipher of ff. 29-31, views 0037-0039)

**[view 0037]** _les_ {vues} du ‹187› sur la Pologne _et on y ajoute cette particularité, que son intention est, de_ {tenter} une [descente] du côté de ‹314› mais on ne dit

**[view 0038]** {rien} de ‹198› une personne qui _à la verité n'est pas fort considerable par son rang, mais qui frequente quelques maison des premiers ministres, ou_ elle a du crédit _m'a dit à cette occasion, que cette_ vue du ‹187› ne sauroit nous {embarasser} tant que nous serions [assurez] des {bonnes} intentions du Czar _mais si_ ‹187› _reussissoit dans le dessein de_ [détacher] le Czar de la ligue et d' _etablir quelque_ intelligence avec lui nous pourrions {être} mis dans une mauvaise [situation] [chose] à laquelle _selon lui nous ne saurions donner trop d'attention. Là dessus je lui ai donné à connoitre, comme quoi cela arrivant_ cette cour ci se verroit _sans doute_ dans une plus mauvaise situation que nous autres _de sorte qu'elle devoit aussi avoir plus d'interêt que nous à_ traverser cette {négociation} de la {Suède} et prévenir par là les suites qu'elle avoit à craindre Votre Excellence aura vu {par} ma relation du ‹364› de ce mois

**[view 0039]** conjointement {signée} avec [Zech] _ce que j'ai dit touchant_ un entretien au {sujet} du comte de Hanau il est d'une nécessité [indispensable] que nous ne perdions pas un {moment} à nous {procurer} les [consentements] des électeurs car ce {seroit} une mer à {boire} que de [persister] dans les sentiment de notre {conseil} d'état que l'Empereur doit nous {les} procurer selon la promesse de Ferdinand ‹356› à Jean George premier vu que si l'Empereur {les} demande [aux] électeurs ils lui demanderont en [échange] des [choses] que celui-ci ne {sauroit} faire de sorte {que} non {seulement} nous {manquerions} des {consentements} qui nous sont {indispensablement} nécessaires pour

(The cipher of view 0040, ff. 31v-32, continues "…parvenir à notre but, mais que nous nous fermerions … la porte de les
obtenir … nous rendrions cette affaire plus dificile et plus incertaine y travaillant conjointement avec l'Empereur. Je vois
encore jour de pouvoir reussir dans le projet à l'egard d'une echange … comté de Hanau … plein pouvoir … un projet en forme
pour le traité qui est requis". See `a24_decryption.txt`. View 0040 was the material of test A and is not counted here.)

## Count (views 0037-0039; Daniel's rule)

| class | words |
|---|---|
| certain | 164 |
| probable {x} | 24 |
| restored [x] | 12 |
| unresolved ‹…› | 7 |
| **total** | **207** |

**188 / 207 = 90.8%.** All 7 unresolved words are nomenclator codes that the sheet of the time resolves: 187 = le roi de
Suède (4 times), 314 = Danzig, 198 = Stanislas, 364 = "10e" (the 10th), 356 = "second" (Ferdinand II). The sense agrees with
the sheet over the whole length. There are two small differences: the cipher says "au sujet du comte de Hanau" where the sheet
has "avec le Comte de Hanau", and "les sentiment" where it has "le sentiment".

## The decipherment of the time (sheet ff. 33-33v), as transcribed

Our transcription is in `frozen/releves/A-FEUILLE-0042-0043.txt`. It has one doubtful word: "em:barasser", perhaps
"em:barquer". The English text is in `a24_translation.md`.

## View 0063 (copy of Wackerbarth to Manteuffel, Vienna 15 May 1717, f. 48v)

15 groups decode as "(d|t)esaintsaph / orin" = "[Mr.] de Saint-Saphorin": "A la fin Mr. de Saint-Saphorin m'assura par raport
à la bonne intention du Roy son Maître…". Nothing new. It is not counted.

Reading

A-FEUILLE-0042-0043.txt

Translation

a24_translation.md

# wackerbarth1717 - English translation of the letter of 24 April 1717 (Wackerbarth to Flemming, Vienna)

This translates the decipherment of the time, the sheet at ff. 33-33v (views 0042-0043), as we transcribed it in
`frozen/releves/A-FEUILLE-0042-0043.txt`. That sheet renders the whole cipher of ff. 29-32. Our own decoding with key c
(`a24_reading.md`, 90.8% of 207 cipher words) agrees with it in sense throughout.

[Concerning the] views of the King of Sweden on Poland, this further detail is added: his intention is to attempt a landing
on the side of Danzig; but nothing is said of Stanislas. A person who is, it is true, of no great rank, but who frequents
some houses of the first ministers and has credit there, told me on this occasion that this design of the King of Sweden
could not embarrass us as long as we were sure of the Czar's good intentions. But if the King of Sweden succeeded in his
design of detaching the Czar from the League and of reaching some understanding with him, we could be put in a bad situation,
a thing to which, in his view, one could not pay too much attention. Thereupon I let him understand that, should that happen,
this court here would no doubt find itself in a worse situation than ours, so that it ought to have more interest than we in
thwarting this negotiation of Sweden and so preventing the consequences it had to fear.

Your Excellency will have seen from my relation of the 10th of this month, signed jointly with Zech, what I said about an
interview with the Count of Hanau. It is of indispensable necessity that we lose not a moment in obtaining the consents of
the Electors ourselves. It would be an endless task ("une mer à boire") to persist in the view of our Council of State that
the Emperor must obtain them for us, according to the promise of Ferdinand II to John George I. If the Emperor asks the
Electors for them, they will ask him in exchange for things he could not do. So not only should we miss the consents that we
need to reach our aim; we should also close against ourselves the door to obtaining them, should we afterwards wish to work
for them ourselves. I believe, moreover, that we should make this affair more difficult and more uncertain by working on it
jointly with the Emperor. I still see a way to succeed in the project of an exchange, as [I wrote] to Your Excellency,
regarding the county of Hanau, if we clear up what is spoken of in my relation mentioned above, in which I ask for full
power and a draft in proper form of the treaty that is required. This is what for the present …

Wackerbarth (camp before Stralsund) to his wife in Vienna, 20 November 1715, copy read in part

Answering a 'reasoning' put to the countess at the imperial court, Wackerbarth says that Charles XII will be driven from the Empire (Stralsund closely besieged, Wismar blockaded since Poel was taken); Augustus II wants a general peace, not a separate one, and no total ruin of Sweden; the remnants that might carry Charles XII back to Poland should be destroyed now; he will write to General Dücker and ask Count Virmond to come, so that peace may be made under the Emperor's mediation.

Builds coherent sentences, but under the read bar of 95% of words read as sense (80% here); the holes are marked in the reading.

Transcription: s15_transcription.txt

Decryption: s15_decryption.txt

Reading: s15_reading.md

Translation

s15_translation.md

# wackerbarth1717 - English translation of the letter of 20 November 1715 (camp before Stralsund)

Wackerbarth to his wife, the Countess of Wackerbarth, in Vienna (copy; see `s15_reading.md` for the attribution). Translation of
`s15_reading.md` (v2), the clear and the cipher words together, as one text. Marks: [x] = restored word; <...> = unresolved
(number given); (...) = our gloss; "…" = clear text not transcribed in full. Probable words are not marked here (see
`s15_reading.md`). Read in part: 80.4% under the target's one strict rule (96.75% by the contributor's count, which counts words resting on values deduced in the letter).

**[view 0380, f. 307]** (Heading:) Answer to the letter from Vienna. At the camp before Stralsund, 20 November 1715 ("9bre"; first transcribed "8bre", see NOTES.md).
I have seen by yours of the 5th of this month … a line of reasoning that was put to you on the interest of the allies of the
North with regard to the King of Sweden. There is in truth much that is solid in it … on a closer look it appears quite plainly
that it is only in so far as the King of Sweden finds his account in it. But let that pass, provided that we too really find our
convenience in it. You answered him very well … or, should the occasion arise, you may naturally bring this talk up again, and I
will tell you that it is quite certain that

**[view 0381, f. 307v]** the King of Sweden will infallibly be dislodged altogether from Germany, where so far nothing is left
to him but Stralsund and Wismar. Before Stralsund the attack has been [pushed] so far that, unless the King of Sweden wishes to
await the last extremity, I mean a general assault, he will draw no other advantage from it than the satisfaction of having
remained master of it a few days longer <400>. Since the island of Poel was taken without any loss on the [side] of the allies
of the North, Wismar is so closely pressed by land and by sea that, if only those who keep that place blockaded do not slacken
their attention, it cannot

**[view 0381, f. 308]** avoid falling this very winter, should it be needed to besiege it in form. From this situation of the
King of Sweden's affairs you can well see that this <183> can no longer prevent his being, in a short time, entirely dislodged
from the Empire or from the duchy of Zweibrücken, so that [he] can hardly trouble the allies of the North. The harm that comes
of it can only be regarded as a fruit of His Swedish Majesty's own will, since neither the good disposition of the allies of the
North for the restoration of peace, nor the exhortations of the Emperor and of his <c?eill> friends for that same peace and for
the restoration of tranquillity and rest in the Empire, nor the sad

**[view 0382, f. 308v]** situation <251> of his affairs compared with those of his enemies, the deplorable state of his people,
the exhaustion of his own forces, in men as in money as in the other needs for continuing a war, with only <aiparene> … against so
many enemies, each of whom is now able by himself to sustain the war against him, above all now that he will soon be brought so
low that a foreign power will hardly wish to embark with him, unless it were the Turk, whose help is so distant that he cannot
set his affairs right; finally,

**[view 0382, f. 309]** experience itself has not been able to persuade this [prince] that by going on with the war he would
make his condition ever worse. Could one see his state otherwise than as a fruit of his own will? It is also quite certain that
the King (Augustus II) is well disposed to peace, but to a general peace, by no means a separate one, and such as the
[conjuncture] can reasonably demand, and such also as it must be to secure <270> <aue> [the] foundation, the rest that is its
aim. I will tell you further that the King is by no means [minded] to lend his hand to a total ruin of the Crown of Sweden, and
the King has gone so far in this sentiment that he has even

**[view 0383, f. 309v]** stipulated it in the treaties with his allies. It seems to me that this shows well enough his good
dispositions for peace, provided it is not of a nature to lay the foundation of a new war, but that one finds in it all the
security one can reasonably desire. Besides, the reasoning put to you seems to me to resemble in some manner the letter that
Monsieur the Count of Croissy wrote at the beginning of this campaign, in which he set out the firmness of the King of Sweden and
the drawbacks to which the allies were going to expose themselves by resolving to attack this [prince] in Stralsund and Rügen
<4008> <10009> <680>.

**[view 0383, f. 310]** It is true that in the reasoning put to you there is more moderation; but, depicting to us what we
would have to fear from this prince in Poland, and depicting him in such a way that we should fear him more than any of the other
powers making war on him, and giving us at the same time such an idea of this [prince]'s firmness in pursuing his designs as must
persuade us that we have much to fear from him, could one reasonably hope that such insinuations might have any other effect than
the letter of Monsieur de Croissy, which produced only a closer bond among the allies and an increase in the King of Sweden's
enemies, to

**[view 0384, f. 310v]** bring him to such a peace as the conjuncture can reasonably demand? And since the King of Sweden has
made it a rule to reject [it], should not these unhappy consequences that we are made to foresee lead us to embrace the surest
means of putting ourselves under cover from what we are meant to fear: the remnants that the King of Sweden could gather to go
back again to Poland and put himself at the head of our rebels? For, as the man who spoke to you so confidentially assures you,
he would find two thirds of them for him. And what

**[view 0384, f. 311]** means could be surer and more effective than to destroy, while we can, these remnants before they can
serve to strengthen the King of Sweden in a firmness as pernicious to him as to us? All that is left of these remnants we are
meant to fear, and that was not destroyed on the island of Usedom, in the entrenchment taken from him here before Stralsund and
on the island of Rügen, is now with the King of Sweden's own person in the town of Stralsund,

**[view 0385, f. 311v]** which on the land side is entirely enclosed, and will be no less so by sea since the taking of Rügen,
if the Danes, as they assure us, have sent prams and frigates to stop up on both sides the way out of Stralsund by water. In this
situation, where the [remnants] of the King of Sweden's forces and his own person, whose return to Poland [we] [must] fear, are
shut up in Stralsund, ought we not to forestall the harm with which, it is claimed, we are threatened

**[view 0385, f. 312]** and try to destroy these remnants while it is in our power to do so? What is left in Wismar can no longer
escape and must succumb, as I said above. This situation in which the King of Sweden now finds himself leaves him no course to
take but to surrender the place to us and accept peace, or to await a general assault and expose himself to being massacred with
all his men or taken prisoner. This will make me take

**[view 0386, f. 312v]** the course of writing to General Dücker as soon as the greater part of our cannon and mortars have been
brought to the batteries; above all as I find myself so close to the salient angle of the counterscarp that at the latest I shall
be able to make myself master [of the place] in <357> or <358> times <365> <358> hours, and make all the cannon and mortars play
at once. And before coming to that, I will try whether, by the representations I shall make to the said general in my letter, he
might touch the heart of his King, so that, by taking the resolution

**[view 0386, f. 313]** to surrender the town and to come to a general peace, this prince may turn away the harm that he can no
longer avoid otherwise. Is not acting so to give a new and unquestionable mark of the King's good intention for peace? I will
write again today to Monsieur the Count Virmond, minister of the Emperor, to ask him to come to me without delay, so that, if the
King of Sweden, through the pitiful state he is in, through the compassion he owes his people and through my representations,
lets himself be bent to treat of peace, this may still be done under the

**[view 0387, f. 313v]** direction and by the mediation of the Emperor. I hope this will further convince <68> of the regard
that the King has on all occasions for the glory and interests of His Imperial Majesty. I cannot but be persuaded that the
Imperial Court will be grateful to him for it, and that <échangée/engagée> it will espouse on all occasions the interests … with
the same eagerness. There, my dear wife, is what to answer to those who hold such talk to you … without affectation. I am working,
not without hope of success, to bring

**[view 0387, f. 314]** things here to such a point that the operations of the war can no longer give us matter for occupation.
I am …

Key: key.tsv

10 Sources

Dresden, Sächsisches Staatsarchiv, Hauptstaatsarchiv Dresden, 10026 Geheimes Kabinett: Loc. 00713/01 (1717; views 0037–0040, 0042–0043 and 0089–0099, and the glossed views 0017, 0057–0062, 0071–0072, 0080–0081, 0086–0088) and Loc. 00712/05 (1715; views 0380–0390). The record pages were consulted on 12 November 2026.
Transcriptions, keys, protocols, measurements, readings and translations: Brice Dudout, pull request #418, 11 November 2026. He has published a historical article on the two letters at Europe chiffrée.
Anne-Simone Rous, “The Keys of Diplomacy. The encrypted correspondence of Saxon-Polish Ministers Wackerbarth and Flemming 1700–1720”, HistoCrypt 2024, University of Tartu, doi:10.58009/aere-perennius0111. Abstract only; paper not opened.
Historical setting: Brice Dudout checked the siege of Stralsund, Virmond’s mission and the countess against reference works, and cites L. R. Lewitter, “Poland, Russia and the Treaty of Vienna of 5 January 1719”, Historical Journal 13/1 (1970). That Relation XXII is an early step towards that treaty is his hypothesis. (This background is not from the letters and was not checked here.)
Prior art: no edition of the 1717 Relations was found in a quick web search by the contributor; printed state papers were not searched. Neither volume is in the project’s catalogue or leads.

Transcriptions, keys, frozen protocols, the recount script and notes: targets/wackerbarth1717/.

Cite this page

Brice Dudout and Daniel Bourdeau, “Wackerbarth’s cipher letters, 1715–1717”, Cyphersolver, posted 12 November 2026, https://cyphersolver.com/wackerbarth1717.html.

Wackerbarth’s cipher letters, 1715–1717: the siege of Stralsund and a concert of three courts

01 The letters

02 The cipher and its key

03 The tests

04 Relation XXII, June 1717

05 Stralsund, 20 November 1715

06 To Flemming, 24 April 1717

07 How the words were counted

08 What remains open

09 Simultaneous work: A.-S. Rous

Full texts

Relation XXII, Wackerbarth to Augustus II, Vienna 14-16 June 1717 read in part

Wackerbarth to Flemming, Vienna 24 April 1717 (read from the decipherment of the time)

Wackerbarth (camp before Stralsund) to his wife in Vienna, 20 November 1715, copy read in part

10 Sources