Code and cipher tables of Mary, Queen of Scots, circa 1596. A prime example of a classic nomenclator, this system lists names, words, and common letter combinations alongside their equivalent code symbol(s), in addition to a supplementary cipher alphabet to cover any words or names not listed in the code section. Nomenclators were employed by European royalty to conceal diplomatic as well as personal correspondences during the 15th century onward. They saw widespread use until the 1850s when they were superseded by the invention of the telegraph and Morse code.
The box in the upper left corner of the table contains a cipher alphabet where each plaintext letter has four symbol equivalents. The top half of the upper right box contains substitution symbols for common digraphs (including the letter W, which was historically a digraph), each of which has two equivalent symbols; the lower half lists signs to represent common English word endings.
Below this is a list of 31 null characters — these are meaningless signs intended to confuse decryption attempts — followed by a list of 16 symbols, 12 of which represent the months of the year, and four more representing the words “Ponds,” “Angels,” “Crownes [sic],” and “Ducats.”
The next line details the use of four specialized signs:
The first sign (resembling a cursive digit 1 or lowercase /) is used to represent a doubling of any preceding character (used to double a letter, for example)
The second sign (a small square) is used as a full stop or period
The third sign (resembling a cursive capital V) is used as parentheses
The fourth sign (resembling a lowercase j without the dot) makes any preceding character null
The rest of the table lists symbol equivalents of the names of key individuals and locations as well as common words and short phrases. The first three columns encrypt the names of individuals and places (many titles are abbreviated, such as k. for king, Q. for queen, E. for earl, and lo. for lord). The fourth through seventh columns list encryptions for common words as well as a few more names.
