Home›Open Questions›Who first printed a Theban sign for J distinct from the sign for I, and where did that form come from?Open QuestionsWho first printed a Theban sign for J distinct from the sign for I, and where did that form come from?Citation FormatsGeneral ReferenceGeneral Reference Citation TextDivinity Atlas. "Who first printed a Theban sign for J distinct from the sign for I, and where did that form come from?." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://divinity.interactivelion.com/open-questions-index/who-first-printed-a-theban-sign-for-j-distinct-from-the-sign-for-i-and-where-did-that-form-come-from.Copy General ReferenceAPA StyleAPA Style Citation TextDivinity Atlas. (n.d.). Who first printed a Theban sign for J distinct from the sign for I, and where did that form come from?. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://divinity.interactivelion.com/open-questions-index/who-first-printed-a-theban-sign-for-j-distinct-from-the-sign-for-i-and-where-did-that-form-come-fromCopy APA StyleBibTeXBibTeX Citation Text@misc{divinityatlas-who-first-printed-a-theban-sign-for-j-di, author = {Divinity Atlas}, title = {Who first printed a Theban sign for J distinct from the sign for I, and where did that form come from?}, year = {2026}, url = {https://divinity.interactivelion.com/open-questions-index/who-first-printed-a-theban-sign-for-j-distinct-from-the-sign-for-i-and-where-did-that-form-come-from}, note = {Accessed August 30, 2026} }Copy BibTeXOpen QuestionCross-Tradition ConnectionsSourcesEssays About This Entity (1 essay)Comments (0)Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)Open QuestionJ was not a separate letter of the Latin alphabet Trithemius was ciphering in 1518, and the earliest Theban sets carry no sign for it: the sign for I served for both. The Theban J in circulation today is a later supplement, usually described as adapted from the I, but nobody has identified the chart or edition in which it first appears, or the hand that made it. The modern twenty six letter Theban set therefore contains one letter with no traceable origin at all.What would resolve this A bibliographic collation of printed Theban charts in sequence, from Polygraphiae in 1518 and Agrippa's De occulta philosophia in 1533, through the eighteenth and nineteenth century grimoire reprints, to the twentieth century witchcraft revival, to locate the earliest surviving witness of the supplementary sign and to name the edition that introduced it.OpenHistory of the printed book, analytical bibliography of occult literatureWikipedia contributors, Theban alphabet (reference article)Cross-Tradition ConnectionsDiscipline NeededAnalytical Bibliography, Scholarly Disciplines Well-attested Source Theban alphabet (reference article)Wikipedia contributorstier 3History of the Book, Scholarly Disciplines Well-attested Source Theban alphabet (reference article)Wikipedia contributorstier 3Question OnTheban J J, Alphabet Letters Well-attested Source Theban alphabet (reference article)Wikipedia contributorstier 3SourcesTheban alphabet (reference article)tier 3Wikipedia contributorsSection on letters: the modern characters J and U are not represented and are often transliterated using the Theban characters for I and V.View the SourceEssays About This Entity (1 essay)One Occult Alphabet's Authorship Question Is Asked Twenty Six Times OverThe open question itself, confirmed publicComments (0)No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.Sign in to join the discussion.Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.View At A Past YearThe atlas records no dated fact of its own for this entry, so there is no other year to choose.Show This Year