Georg Baresch, Czech: Jiří Bareš (1585–1662), was a Bohemian antique collector and alchemist from Prague known for his connection to the Voynich manuscript.
On learning that Athanasius Kircher, a Jesuit scholar from the Collegio Romano, had published a Coptic dictionary and "deciphered" Egyptian hieroglyphs, he sent a sample copy of the script to Kircher in Rome, asking for clues.
His 1639 letter to Kircher, recently located by Rene Zandbergen, is the earliest known mention of the manuscript.
This letter has been preserved, though another copy of transcription material from the Voynich manuscript that was sent along with it is also lost.
He also presents Kircher with his view that the Voynich manuscript represents 'Egyptian science' and shows that he may have been familiar with botany.