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The Voynich Manuscript
Voynich manuscript. Wilfrid Michael Voynich, Manuscript, Constructed script, Asemic writing, Book of Soyga, Codex Seraphinianus, European Voynich Alphabet, False document, Fictional language, Rohonc Codex, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Facsimile, History of the alphabet
304 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1438
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 186 reviews
June 24, 2017
The Voynich Manuscript is a book from the 15th century, written in a language no one can identify, let alone read. This book is divided into three sections: two introductions and the manuscript itself.
When this popped up on Netgalley, I had to give it a go. I've been aware of the Voynich Manuscript for about a decade and how often do you get to look at an undecipherable Renaissance era tome?
The introduction traces the Voynich manuscripts history from its discovery to modern day and hypothesizes its origins. Is it a scientist's enciphered journal or just meaningless gibberish?
I can see how people would arrive at either interpretation. There are some sections that look botanical, some medical, some astronomical, and some featuring naked women. As a sf/fantasy reader, the book most resembles a wizard's spell book or an alien explorer's journal. Maybe it's in a language older than mankind and its deciphering will wake Cthulhu from his dead and dreaming slumber on the floor of the Pacific.
The first section makes for somewhat interesting reading, if a little dry. The rest looks like someone's drawings and the kind of text you see when you try to read a book in your dreams. It's an interesting curiosity. I wouldn't mind having a physical version on my coffee table to flip through every now and again. Three out of five stars.
When this popped up on Netgalley, I had to give it a go. I've been aware of the Voynich Manuscript for about a decade and how often do you get to look at an undecipherable Renaissance era tome?
The introduction traces the Voynich manuscripts history from its discovery to modern day and hypothesizes its origins. Is it a scientist's enciphered journal or just meaningless gibberish?
I can see how people would arrive at either interpretation. There are some sections that look botanical, some medical, some astronomical, and some featuring naked women. As a sf/fantasy reader, the book most resembles a wizard's spell book or an alien explorer's journal. Maybe it's in a language older than mankind and its deciphering will wake Cthulhu from his dead and dreaming slumber on the floor of the Pacific.
The first section makes for somewhat interesting reading, if a little dry. The rest looks like someone's drawings and the kind of text you see when you try to read a book in your dreams. It's an interesting curiosity. I wouldn't mind having a physical version on my coffee table to flip through every now and again. Three out of five stars.
November 7, 2013
The Voynich Manuscript is a thrilling roller-coaster ride through the lives and loves of Jeb and Pants, two teenage boys in the 15th century struggling to understand the word as seen through a microscope with the assistance of seven comedy nymphs.
Presented in a choose-your-own-adventure format, the story of Jeb and Pants is touching and filled with fraternal warmth, with the older, wiser twin Jeb caring deeply for his seconds-younger brother who was dropped on his head as a child. There is a darker underlying theme of corporate greed and identity theft as they struggle against alien lizard Nazis who want to suppress their discoveries. In their plight, they turn to the only adult who understands them - Roger Bacon, who becomes a mentor figure for their youthful adventures until he is gradually expunged from existence by people who don't understand that Francis Bacon is an entirely different person.
Will the boys discover the fundamental building blocks of creation? Or will they be distracted by puberty and the potent force of naked girls in a pond? YOU DECIDE!*
*May not be remotely true.
Presented in a choose-your-own-adventure format, the story of Jeb and Pants is touching and filled with fraternal warmth, with the older, wiser twin Jeb caring deeply for his seconds-younger brother who was dropped on his head as a child. There is a darker underlying theme of corporate greed and identity theft as they struggle against alien lizard Nazis who want to suppress their discoveries. In their plight, they turn to the only adult who understands them - Roger Bacon, who becomes a mentor figure for their youthful adventures until he is gradually expunged from existence by people who don't understand that Francis Bacon is an entirely different person.
Will the boys discover the fundamental building blocks of creation? Or will they be distracted by puberty and the potent force of naked girls in a pond? YOU DECIDE!*
*May not be remotely true.
June 6, 2015
I hope people are fascinated by my doodling and asemic writings 600 years from now. Fraud is forever!
June 6, 2017
در اوايل قرن بيستم دلّالى به نام "واينيچ" به كتابى حاوى علوم غريبه و طالع بينى و گياه شناسى دست يافت كه در قرون وسطا نگاشته شده بود و به نام خودش "نسخه واينيچ" نام گرفت. نامه ای در کتاب وجود داشت که نوشته بود این کتاب مدتی جزء اموال کتابخانۀ امپراتور رادولف دوم ایتالیا بوده است. اين كتاب به زبانى غير از زبان هاى شناخته شده بشری و با الفبايى رمزى نوشته شده كه حتّى با تلاش نوابغى همچون "آلن تورينگ" كه رمز دستگاه "انيگما"ى نازى ها را شكست، تا به امروز رمزگشايى نشده است.
گروهى معتقدند كه اين كتاب به "زبان طبيعى" نگاشته شده، كه به باور جادوگران و كيمياگران قرون وسطا، اولين زبان بشرى است كه توسط آدم ابوالبشر ساخته و بعدها فراموش شد. به همین خاطر، مدتها تصور میشد این کتاب اثری است از "راجر بیکن"، راهب، جادوگر و کیمیاگر قرن سیزدهم که تلاش کرد زبان طبیعی را کشف و احیا کند. اما این نظریه وقتی رد شد که آزمایشات کربن نشان داد تاریخ نگارش این کتاب بین ۱۴۰۴ تا ۱۴۳۸ میلادی است، یعنی دویست سال پس از راجر بیکن. برخی هم معتقدند "لئوناردو داوینچی" نابغه و هنرمند بزرگ ایتالیایی، این کدها را برای فرار از دادگاه تفتیش عقاید نوشته است.
در مقابل، از آن جا كه ٩٩ درصد زبان هاى رمزى قرون وسطا تا امروز رمزگشايى شده اند، گروهى معتقدند كه اين كتاب چيزى بيشتر از يك شيادى نيست.
اخیراً انتشاراتی اسپانیایی، حق چاپ این کتاب را از دانشگاه ییل امریکا خریداری کرده و آن را به تعداد بسیار محدودی به چاپ رسانده است.
گروهى معتقدند كه اين كتاب به "زبان طبيعى" نگاشته شده، كه به باور جادوگران و كيمياگران قرون وسطا، اولين زبان بشرى است كه توسط آدم ابوالبشر ساخته و بعدها فراموش شد. به همین خاطر، مدتها تصور میشد این کتاب اثری است از "راجر بیکن"، راهب، جادوگر و کیمیاگر قرن سیزدهم که تلاش کرد زبان طبیعی را کشف و احیا کند. اما این نظریه وقتی رد شد که آزمایشات کربن نشان داد تاریخ نگارش این کتاب بین ۱۴۰۴ تا ۱۴۳۸ میلادی است، یعنی دویست سال پس از راجر بیکن. برخی هم معتقدند "لئوناردو داوینچی" نابغه و هنرمند بزرگ ایتالیایی، این کدها را برای فرار از دادگاه تفتیش عقاید نوشته است.
در مقابل، از آن جا كه ٩٩ درصد زبان هاى رمزى قرون وسطا تا امروز رمزگشايى شده اند، گروهى معتقدند كه اين كتاب چيزى بيشتر از يك شيادى نيست.
اخیراً انتشاراتی اسپانیایی، حق چاپ این کتاب را از دانشگاه ییل امریکا خریداری کرده و آن را به تعداد بسیار محدودی به چاپ رسانده است.
April 29, 2025
نمیدونم انتهای این مسیر کتابخوانی ای که پیش گرفتم به کجا ختم میشه اما واقعا داره خوش میگذره و از تکتک پیشنهادات در امتداد این مسیر سپاسگزارم و استقبال میکنم!
این یکی کتاب هم پر از نوشته نامفهوم و پر از طرحه که انگار تو چند چپتر نوشته شده. اولاش یه جور دایرهالمعارف برا شناخت گیاهها بود، بعد جلوتر شاید چیزی درباره بدن آدم میخواست بگه، جلو تر یه سری طرح دایرهای که احتمالا مرتبط با نجوم باشند داشت؛ کلا چیز عجیبی بود.
حالا فرق این یکی با کدکس سرافینیانوس اینه که این یکی نگفته الفبام مفهوم نداره و کلا اصرار دارند که کتاب واقعا قدیمیه و خوبیش اینه که کلی زبان شناس و تاریخ شناس روش کار کردند و یه سری مقاله و ویدیو و حتی کتاب راجع بهش هست. فعلا کتاب اشپرینگر رو راجع بهش گرفتم تا ببینم که چی میگه و به کدوم سمت باز هدایت میشم.
۲.۱۴۰۴
این یکی کتاب هم پر از نوشته نامفهوم و پر از طرحه که انگار تو چند چپتر نوشته شده. اولاش یه جور دایرهالمعارف برا شناخت گیاهها بود، بعد جلوتر شاید چیزی درباره بدن آدم میخواست بگه، جلو تر یه سری طرح دایرهای که احتمالا مرتبط با نجوم باشند داشت؛ کلا چیز عجیبی بود.
حالا فرق این یکی با کدکس سرافینیانوس اینه که این یکی نگفته الفبام مفهوم نداره و کلا اصرار دارند که کتاب واقعا قدیمیه و خوبیش اینه که کلی زبان شناس و تاریخ شناس روش کار کردند و یه سری مقاله و ویدیو و حتی کتاب راجع بهش هست. فعلا کتاب اشپرینگر رو راجع بهش گرفتم تا ببینم که چی میگه و به کدوم سمت باز هدایت میشم.
۲.۱۴۰۴
June 25, 2025
چند وقت پیش در مورد این دست نوشته یه سری مطلب و نظر خوندم و خب به ذهنم رسید بیام اینو بدم به دستیارهای هوش مصنوعی که الان در دسترس هستند و اصلا ببینم کسی این کار رو کرده یا نه؟ خلاصه اینکه!
شروع کردم به ترجمه (!) گرفتن از هوش مصنوعی! و توضیحاتش رو به شکل مفصل اینجا توی ویرگول نوشتم:
صفحه ویرگول
نوشته اول
نوشته دوم
اگر دوست داشتین می تونین برخی از ترجمه هایی که هوش مصنوعی بهم داده رو ببینید.
در نوشته اول نشستم توضیحات کاری که کردم رو نوشتم و در نوشته دوم قسمتی از ترجمه ها و فایل ترجمه (یا هرچی که بگین) کامل تر رو قرار دادم.
نکته آخر اینکه که طبیعتا نباید هوش مصنوعی رو خیلی جدی گرفت، چشمک
اردیبهشت ۱۴۰۴
شروع کردم به ترجمه (!) گرفتن از هوش مصنوعی! و توضیحاتش رو به شکل مفصل اینجا توی ویرگول نوشتم:
صفحه ویرگول
نوشته اول
نوشته دوم
اگر دوست داشتین می تونین برخی از ترجمه هایی که هوش مصنوعی بهم داده رو ببینید.
در نوشته اول نشستم توضیحات کاری که کردم رو نوشتم و در نوشته دوم قسمتی از ترجمه ها و فایل ترجمه (یا هرچی که بگین) کامل تر رو قرار دادم.
نکته آخر اینکه که طبیعتا نباید هوش مصنوعی رو خیلی جدی گرفت، چشمک
اردیبهشت ۱۴۰۴
to-be-considered
February 21, 2020ʗɮƣņņɰɝ!
ʢʢǟ ʢƻʢģ: http://daily.jstor.org/the-voynich-ma...
ʗ ƣʘʢģ ɮņɰʭ ģǣɞđʢɀı ģƻʭǣƦģı ƣ ʢʆɝ ƣƦʢǟƍ ʭǟ ƣƻɝ ƻʭɞɝ ģʢı ɮņʗɮʢʭ ʢƻǟʗʭɮʘ (ʘƣʗņƣđņʢƣ ʢƻʢģ), ǣıđ ƻʭɞɝ ģƣıʆ ʗ ʭǣņɀǷ ʢǷʗƍģʢƻɀ ʗ ģʗɮɟı ʢʆ ƣɮǷ ƛƍʢǷıʢ ɮƣ ɮƦƻʭǟǟʗɮƦʢ ʗǷƣƻʢǟƐǣʢƍ ʭʘʢņɮ ɮʗ ģʢı ƻƣɀʗıʗʭɮı ɝʭ Don Quixote ƻʭ Simplicissimus ƣʗƻʢɀƍ ʗıģʆ ǣʗƛʭıʗǷƐ ǷʗʢɮıʗɝʗǷǟ ʗǟǷʭʘʢƻʗʢǟɀ ģƣıı ʢʢɞǟ ƣƻɝ ģʢƣɀƣ ɝʭ ģʢı ʗɞʢı ģʢı ʭʭɟđ ƣǟʆ ƻʗııʢɮʆ (ƣƻņɰʢ 15ᵺ ʢɮıǣƻɰǷ); ʭǟıņɰɞ ʭıƣɮɰđ, ʢʢǷģǷƻƣɝıņ, ɮɀƣ ǟıƻʭɮʭɞɰƣ.
ƣɮ’ıǷ ƣʗıʆ ɮıʗņǣ ģʗǟı ʭʭɟđ ʢıǟƦ ʗɮƣņņɰɝ ǣđņʗǟģʢɀƍ. ģƣɮɟı ʭǣɰ, ƻɞ Voynich, ʭƻɝ ɮʢƣƻıģʗɮƦǣ ģʗǟı!
ǟƍ: ıɝʆ! $8,000?
__________
ģʗǟı ʭƻɟʆ ǟʗ ʗǷʢɮǟʢɀņ ɮɀʢƻǣ ƣ ƻʢƣıʗʘʢǷ ʭɞɞʭɮǟǷ ııƻʗđǣıʗʭɮƣ-ʭɮǷʭɞɞʢƻǷʗƣņɮ-ģƣƻʢƣņʗɟʢǟ 3.0 ɮƍʭƻıʢɀǣ ʗǷʢɮǟʢņ.
ʢʢǟ ʢƻʢģ: http://daily.jstor.org/the-voynich-ma...
ʗ ƣʘʢģ ɮņɰʭ ģǣɞđʢɀı ģƻʭǣƦģı ƣ ʢʆɝ ƣƦʢǟƍ ʭǟ ƣƻɝ ƻʭɞɝ ģʢı ɮņʗɮʢʭ ʢƻǟʗʭɮʘ (ʘƣʗņƣđņʢƣ ʢƻʢģ), ǣıđ ƻʭɞɝ ģƣıʆ ʗ ʭǣņɀǷ ʢǷʗƍģʢƻɀ ʗ ģʗɮɟı ʢʆ ƣɮǷ ƛƍʢǷıʢ ɮƣ ɮƦƻʭǟǟʗɮƦʢ ʗǷƣƻʢǟƐǣʢƍ ʭʘʢņɮ ɮʗ ģʢı ƻƣɀʗıʗʭɮı ɝʭ Don Quixote ƻʭ Simplicissimus ƣʗƻʢɀƍ ʗıģʆ ǣʗƛʭıʗǷƐ ǷʗʢɮıʗɝʗǷǟ ʗǟǷʭʘʢƻʗʢǟɀ ģƣıı ʢʢɞǟ ƣƻɝ ģʢƣɀƣ ɝʭ ģʢı ʗɞʢı ģʢı ʭʭɟđ ƣǟʆ ƻʗııʢɮʆ (ƣƻņɰʢ 15ᵺ ʢɮıǣƻɰǷ); ʭǟıņɰɞ ʭıƣɮɰđ, ʢʢǷģǷƻƣɝıņ, ɮɀƣ ǟıƻʭɮʭɞɰƣ.
ƣɮ’ıǷ ƣʗıʆ ɮıʗņǣ ģʗǟı ʭʭɟđ ʢıǟƦ ʗɮƣņņɰɝ ǣđņʗǟģʢɀƍ. ģƣɮɟı ʭǣɰ, ƻɞ Voynich, ʭƻɝ ɮʢƣƻıģʗɮƦǣ ģʗǟı!
ǟƍ: ıɝʆ! $8,000?
__________
ģʗǟı ʭƻɟʆ ǟʗ ʗǷʢɮǟʢɀņ ɮɀʢƻǣ ƣ ƻʢƣıʗʘʢǷ ʭɞɞʭɮǟǷ ııƻʗđǣıʗʭɮƣ-ʭɮǷʭɞɞʢƻǷʗƣņɮ-ģƣƻʢƣņʗɟʢǟ 3.0 ɮƍʭƻıʢɀǣ ʗǷʢɮǟʢņ.
May 16, 2012
I actually read an online version of this, well thats if one can say that they 'read' the book at all. The Voynich Manuscript is a yet to be deciphered text containing unusual images of all sorts. The manuscript was named after Wilfrid Voynich, a Polish-American antique bookseller who acquired it around 1912.Its subject matter encompasses astronomy, botany, biology and a myriad of other drawings with text...
http://beinecke.library.yale.edu/digi...
http://beinecke.library.yale.edu/digi...
November 4, 2017
I purchased the Voynich Manuscript earlier this year, but it's shrink-wrap remained unopened until a few days ago. I've been reading The All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness. In this novel, Harkness incorporates the Voynich Manuscript into the storyline. Reading about the manuscript in this novel spurred me on to 'read' it. Holding the book in my hands, I was still somewhat reluctant to remove the shrink-wrap. Don't ask me why this was - maybe I had an inner wish to keep the book in pristine condition, or perhaps I didn't want to 'read' it until someone had deciphered all the gobbledegook text. I sat there for a while and then decided to take off the shrink wrap.
I'm very impressed with the quality of this Yale edition. Excellent quality paper, with excellent images. Even the dust jacket is excellent quality - it is not a paper dust cover, but some form of plastic that will keep the hard cover of the book clean for years to come without deteriorating in the same way that a paper dust jacket would.
As you open the book you see images of the envelope and letter that Ethel Voynich wrote on the 19th July 1930, after the death of her husband Wilfrid Voynich. This letter was to only be opened after Ethel's death. Following on, is an introduction by Deborah Harkness (author of the All Souls Trilogy and a historian herself), there is a preface by Raymond Clemens. These then lead you into the images of the Voynich Manuscript. At the end of the book are essays about:
1. Earliest Owners
2. Voynich the Buyer
3. Physical Findings
4. Crptographic Attempts
5. Alchemical Traditions
6. The World's Most Mysterious Manuscript
Wilfrid Michael Voynich (1865 - 1930), a book dealer, obtained the manuscript in 1912 and the Voynich Manuscript is named after him. Following Ethel Voynich's (Wilfrid's wife) death in 1960, the manuscript was eventually sold to Hans Peter Kraus. In 1969, having been unable to sell the manuscript, Kraus decided to donate it to Yale University's Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. The manuscript is known there as Beinecke MS 408, but most people tend to still call it the Voynich Manuscript.
Over the centuries many people have tried to decipher the gobbledegook text, but as yet no one has succeeded. There are many hypotheses as to what the 'language' actually is. The text could be ciphers, codes, shorthand, stenography, natural language etc etc. Will we ever know the solution to this enigma or is the manuscript just a great big hoax (some people believe that it is) that someone produced for a 'laugh' to get everyone talking about a rare mediaeval manuscript. Well if the manuscript was produced for a 'laugh', then the author has certainly succeeded in the objective. Many people have and are still talking about it and scratching their heads over the manuscript trying to work out the books true meaning.
Some believe that the author of the manuscript is Roger Bacon (1214 - 1294) and Voynich himself thought that Albertus Magnus (1200 - 1280), but he was unable to prove this. Maybe we will never know who the author was. Through examinations and analyses the manuscript has been dated to the 15th century. Radiocarbon dating has been able to determine
'..............95 per cent probability that the Voynich Manuscript is a mediaeval document.'
However, given the forgeries of the Dead Sea Scrolls, these suggest that whether using only carbon dating is probably an insufficient analysis on it's own.
Multispectral imaging is a tool that is used to 'characterize and differentiate inks and printing materials.' Looking at inks and pigments can help to determine the age of a document etc. Rare documents and paintings etc., require a full provenance before true authentication can be established. Using UV induced visible fluorescence imaging enabled the signature of Jacobi a Tepenecz to be enhanced, thereby further assigning provenance to the manuscript. Tepenecz 'was imperial chemist to Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf ll of Prague, in whose collection the manuscript was known to have been.' However, this signature does not match Tepenecz's signature on a document that was found in 2003. Thus, is the signature genuine, or perhaps did Voynich or another owner add the signature to the manuscript to help with the provenance?
'The sewing style and composition of the supports and thread also are consistent with those for a book bound in the Gothic period.' The Gothic period lasted from the 12th century until the 16th century, so I guess this adds corroboration to the carbon dating of the paper to the 15th century.
From reading the essays etc., in the book it would appear that as yet, the examinations and analyses have not brought forth any evidence to suggest that the manuscript was forged in the 19th century. However, until full provenance is established, I guess this can not be ruled out. New discoveries with regards to technology, techniques and methods evolve all the time, so perhaps in years to come further tests on the manuscript may reveal more information. A shame that computer technology of today is as yet unable to help with the deciphering of the gobbledegook.
Looking at the text it is clear that some 'words' appear to be duplicated on the same page and on other pages. To my eyes, one word looks like 'sand', but then as I look through the pages I guess that I'm trying to adapt the gobbledegook to the English language lol. I've seen a few other 'words' that you think to yourself yes that is what it says, but what use is one word on an entire page if you've no idea what all the other 'words' are.
When looking at the drawings or artwork, I compare them in my mind's eye to other photos that I have seen of mediaeval books. In the manuscript the drawings are very crude and in some ways childlike, or maybe drawn by someone with very little artistic skill. If this manuscript was produced in the 21st century, I'd say it was a draft copy and before publication a professional illustrator would be employed to produce magnificent drawings. However, given that the cost of parchment in the 15th century was probably astronomical, the manuscript is obviously not a draft copy! Even authors such as the Brontës in the 19th century, wrote in miniscule handwriting in their notebooks (can be seen in the Brontë museum) because of the cost of paper.
This is an excellent book which can be 'read' over and over again trying to make your own opinion as to what it all means. I think it's great that this book has been published. Definitely a 5* book for me.
I'm very impressed with the quality of this Yale edition. Excellent quality paper, with excellent images. Even the dust jacket is excellent quality - it is not a paper dust cover, but some form of plastic that will keep the hard cover of the book clean for years to come without deteriorating in the same way that a paper dust jacket would.
As you open the book you see images of the envelope and letter that Ethel Voynich wrote on the 19th July 1930, after the death of her husband Wilfrid Voynich. This letter was to only be opened after Ethel's death. Following on, is an introduction by Deborah Harkness (author of the All Souls Trilogy and a historian herself), there is a preface by Raymond Clemens. These then lead you into the images of the Voynich Manuscript. At the end of the book are essays about:
1. Earliest Owners
2. Voynich the Buyer
3. Physical Findings
4. Crptographic Attempts
5. Alchemical Traditions
6. The World's Most Mysterious Manuscript
Wilfrid Michael Voynich (1865 - 1930), a book dealer, obtained the manuscript in 1912 and the Voynich Manuscript is named after him. Following Ethel Voynich's (Wilfrid's wife) death in 1960, the manuscript was eventually sold to Hans Peter Kraus. In 1969, having been unable to sell the manuscript, Kraus decided to donate it to Yale University's Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. The manuscript is known there as Beinecke MS 408, but most people tend to still call it the Voynich Manuscript.
Over the centuries many people have tried to decipher the gobbledegook text, but as yet no one has succeeded. There are many hypotheses as to what the 'language' actually is. The text could be ciphers, codes, shorthand, stenography, natural language etc etc. Will we ever know the solution to this enigma or is the manuscript just a great big hoax (some people believe that it is) that someone produced for a 'laugh' to get everyone talking about a rare mediaeval manuscript. Well if the manuscript was produced for a 'laugh', then the author has certainly succeeded in the objective. Many people have and are still talking about it and scratching their heads over the manuscript trying to work out the books true meaning.
Some believe that the author of the manuscript is Roger Bacon (1214 - 1294) and Voynich himself thought that Albertus Magnus (1200 - 1280), but he was unable to prove this. Maybe we will never know who the author was. Through examinations and analyses the manuscript has been dated to the 15th century. Radiocarbon dating has been able to determine
'..............95 per cent probability that the Voynich Manuscript is a mediaeval document.'
However, given the forgeries of the Dead Sea Scrolls, these suggest that whether using only carbon dating is probably an insufficient analysis on it's own.
Multispectral imaging is a tool that is used to 'characterize and differentiate inks and printing materials.' Looking at inks and pigments can help to determine the age of a document etc. Rare documents and paintings etc., require a full provenance before true authentication can be established. Using UV induced visible fluorescence imaging enabled the signature of Jacobi a Tepenecz to be enhanced, thereby further assigning provenance to the manuscript. Tepenecz 'was imperial chemist to Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf ll of Prague, in whose collection the manuscript was known to have been.' However, this signature does not match Tepenecz's signature on a document that was found in 2003. Thus, is the signature genuine, or perhaps did Voynich or another owner add the signature to the manuscript to help with the provenance?
'The sewing style and composition of the supports and thread also are consistent with those for a book bound in the Gothic period.' The Gothic period lasted from the 12th century until the 16th century, so I guess this adds corroboration to the carbon dating of the paper to the 15th century.
From reading the essays etc., in the book it would appear that as yet, the examinations and analyses have not brought forth any evidence to suggest that the manuscript was forged in the 19th century. However, until full provenance is established, I guess this can not be ruled out. New discoveries with regards to technology, techniques and methods evolve all the time, so perhaps in years to come further tests on the manuscript may reveal more information. A shame that computer technology of today is as yet unable to help with the deciphering of the gobbledegook.
Looking at the text it is clear that some 'words' appear to be duplicated on the same page and on other pages. To my eyes, one word looks like 'sand', but then as I look through the pages I guess that I'm trying to adapt the gobbledegook to the English language lol. I've seen a few other 'words' that you think to yourself yes that is what it says, but what use is one word on an entire page if you've no idea what all the other 'words' are.
When looking at the drawings or artwork, I compare them in my mind's eye to other photos that I have seen of mediaeval books. In the manuscript the drawings are very crude and in some ways childlike, or maybe drawn by someone with very little artistic skill. If this manuscript was produced in the 21st century, I'd say it was a draft copy and before publication a professional illustrator would be employed to produce magnificent drawings. However, given that the cost of parchment in the 15th century was probably astronomical, the manuscript is obviously not a draft copy! Even authors such as the Brontës in the 19th century, wrote in miniscule handwriting in their notebooks (can be seen in the Brontë museum) because of the cost of paper.
This is an excellent book which can be 'read' over and over again trying to make your own opinion as to what it all means. I think it's great that this book has been published. Definitely a 5* book for me.
Read
May 9, 2010Of course, I use the term "read" loosely.
wish-list
July 5, 2017Author of mysterious Voynich manuscript was Italian Jew, says scholar. Illustrations of the book that has confounded code-breakers and scholars for more than 100 years may offer key clues about authorship.
May 3, 2023
از روش نگارش نویسنده خوشم نیومد، اصلا واضح نبود چی میگه و حتی یک کلمه هم نفهمیدم.
عه! مثل اینکه دانشمندان زبانشناسی هم قرن هاست که چیزی نفهمیدن :)))
جدا از شوخی، واقعا واقعا واقعا دلم میخواد رمز این کتاب توی دوران عمر من کشف بشه و بفهمم چی بوده قضیه این همه نوشتههای رمزی و بالاتر از اون، اینهمه نقاشیهای عجیب از زنهای عریان که توی استخر های عمودی سبز رنگ کنار هم لم دادن:)
عه! مثل اینکه دانشمندان زبانشناسی هم قرن هاست که چیزی نفهمیدن :)))
جدا از شوخی، واقعا واقعا واقعا دلم میخواد رمز این کتاب توی دوران عمر من کشف بشه و بفهمم چی بوده قضیه این همه نوشتههای رمزی و بالاتر از اون، اینهمه نقاشیهای عجیب از زنهای عریان که توی استخر های عمودی سبز رنگ کنار هم لم دادن:)
July 25, 2018
Uma obra a ser melhor estudada e esmiuçada por mim
Read
August 7, 2018How to review a text you could not actually read?
The Voynich Manuscript is a fifteenth century codex written in an undeciphered language. The Manuscript is bound in parchment and contains about about 300 vellum pages (some missing, some as foldouts), filled with aesthetically exquisite brown-ink calligraphy which heavily contrasts with amateurish red-blue-green illustrations. A conjectured pharmacopoeia, the book contains drawings of unidentified plants, of enigmatic astrological charts, and of women bathing together in tubs or interacting with bizarre organic structures. The Manuscript likely originates from Northern Italy but is named after the Polish book dealer, Wilfrid Voynich, who acquired it at the beginning of the twentieth century.
Curiosity is the starting point of many a book, including those that no one else has been able to understand. Not because you’re likely to succeed, but because it defies (insults?) the hubris of mankind as a scientific, culturally ever-progressive species. You may not be able to solve a Rubik’s cube, but the first time you're confronted with it you'll want to understand the difficulty, especially if, as is the case with the Voynich Manuscript, the cube remains unsolved.
It could be a diary.
Or a grimoire.
Or some medieval scholar's big joke.
You could investigate it for yourself and make up your own mind.
The whole Manuscript is available for free on archive.org. For detailed information about the language and the attempts made to understand it, see the Wikipedia page—it provides plenty of insight and references.
The Voynich Manuscript is a fifteenth century codex written in an undeciphered language. The Manuscript is bound in parchment and contains about about 300 vellum pages (some missing, some as foldouts), filled with aesthetically exquisite brown-ink calligraphy which heavily contrasts with amateurish red-blue-green illustrations. A conjectured pharmacopoeia, the book contains drawings of unidentified plants, of enigmatic astrological charts, and of women bathing together in tubs or interacting with bizarre organic structures. The Manuscript likely originates from Northern Italy but is named after the Polish book dealer, Wilfrid Voynich, who acquired it at the beginning of the twentieth century.
Curiosity is the starting point of many a book, including those that no one else has been able to understand. Not because you’re likely to succeed, but because it defies (insults?) the hubris of mankind as a scientific, culturally ever-progressive species. You may not be able to solve a Rubik’s cube, but the first time you're confronted with it you'll want to understand the difficulty, especially if, as is the case with the Voynich Manuscript, the cube remains unsolved.
It could be a diary.
Or a grimoire.
Or some medieval scholar's big joke.
You could investigate it for yourself and make up your own mind.
The whole Manuscript is available for free on archive.org. For detailed information about the language and the attempts made to understand it, see the Wikipedia page—it provides plenty of insight and references.
May 18, 2023
If you’ve ever picked up a book, and found it’s full of surreal plants, unknown diagrams, zodiac rings, and a language which is completely undecipherable, you’re likely looking at a copy of the Voynich manuscript: the book that nobody can translate.
This medieval text, which has been dated to the early 15th century, is one of the most mysterious books ever written, as even after hundreds of years, no one has been able to definitively decode it…
If you choose to look it up take a look at this bizarre book, and see what we can learn about its history and possible meaning. Personally, I think it is a joke, it reminds me of that time where scientists wanted to translate some Norse runes that were considered sacred. They eventually managed to get access to them which were high up on a wall. When they translated them they found out that the runes pretty much said "This is very tall." It is possible the Voynich Manuscript is an example of ancient shitposting.
That said, I dont know why someone would skin and tan enough sheep for over 209 pages of vellum, to not say the effort it takes to find the various paints and intricate drawings. That is quite a lot of effort for a prank. Plus with pages 125 to 134 involving star charts that show a night sky seen nowhere on earth.
Anywho, its a rich inspiration.
You can find free pdfs online. The art is as haunting as it is inspiring. I enjoyed looking at it
This medieval text, which has been dated to the early 15th century, is one of the most mysterious books ever written, as even after hundreds of years, no one has been able to definitively decode it…
If you choose to look it up take a look at this bizarre book, and see what we can learn about its history and possible meaning. Personally, I think it is a joke, it reminds me of that time where scientists wanted to translate some Norse runes that were considered sacred. They eventually managed to get access to them which were high up on a wall. When they translated them they found out that the runes pretty much said "This is very tall." It is possible the Voynich Manuscript is an example of ancient shitposting.
That said, I dont know why someone would skin and tan enough sheep for over 209 pages of vellum, to not say the effort it takes to find the various paints and intricate drawings. That is quite a lot of effort for a prank. Plus with pages 125 to 134 involving star charts that show a night sky seen nowhere on earth.
Anywho, its a rich inspiration.
You can find free pdfs online. The art is as haunting as it is inspiring. I enjoyed looking at it
Read
January 20, 2023The audacity to mark this book as read
October 30, 2016
A nice high-quality art book with lovely facsimile images of all of the Voynich Manuscript's 234 pages, supplemented with a number of essays telling you everything you'd ever want to know about Wilfrid Voynich, the physical construction of the book, how they determined when it was written, even clinical, forensic details about how ink was made during the Middle Ages. Having said that, the essay dealing with cryptographic attempts to crack the Manuscript proved a little too short and vague for my liking, and the final essay (which details, among other things, the appearance of the Voynich Manuscript in pop culture and how its has influenced many artists) strikes me as a missed opportunity: if I were writing it I'd have made mention of Colin Wilson's fascinating 1969 novella "Return of the Lloigor" (which first appeared in the classic Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos anthology), in which a scholar succeeds in translating the Voynich Manuscript, only to find out that the true name of the book is the Necronomicon!
June 4, 2015
Fun to get to look at after hearing/reading about it- thanks, Internet Archive!
March 27, 2016
Can you be said to have read the Voynich Manuscript, one of history's most elusive documents? After 200+ pages, I consider that I've read it; understanding it, of course, is another matter.
The surviving document is 200 pages of handwritten parchment, mostly illustrated. The drawings generally appear to have been drawn before the text was written, as the text is squeezed around the drawings. The text is an unintelligible alphabet which shares some characters in common with Latin script, but other characters are unique to the document. There are no other surviving documents written in this alphabet and no Rosetta Stone to translate it. Sometimes the drawings are labelled, but are themselves too ambiguous to serve as a decipher.
The work is generally considered to have five sections, named after their illustrations: 'herbal' (mysterious drawings of possibly imaginary plants, occasionally with scary properties like eyes or faces), 'astrological' (unquestionably circular diagrams of the stars, occasionally with the signs of the Zodiac illustrated and labelled in Latin), 'biological' (mysterious naked female figures in bizarre bathing apparatuses, some hand-powered in obscure ways), 'cosmological' (possibly topographical maps, possibly not), 'pharmaceutical' (cross-sections of obscure plants and perhaps some jars) and, mysteriously, 'recipes' (page after page of virtually unillustrated text). By 21st century standards, all of the illustrations are dreadful, compounded by an often crude paint job of primary school quality. Sometimes, the diagrams fold out over multiple larger pages. Sometimes, the text follows the diagram around the page (circular, or in a square), which brings experimental novel formats like 'House of Leaves' to mind. Gradually, additional letters appear in the text and start appearing regularly. Sometimes, the same word recurs twice in a row; sometimes the word is almost identical to the previous word (4oHoq 4oHox), but then this is true of English too: Brad, a bard, had had a pad of rad, or bad, examples of this. What's interesting about reading page after page of repetitive characters is the way it makes you think about language in general.
Some observations: although someone somehow managed to convince King Rudolf II to part with a fair whack of gold for this book, the hoax theory doesn't feel entirely apt: the slapdash illustrations surely wouldn't have fooled anyone, the language's inherent rules seem too sophisticated for a prank, and the original book was 270 pages long. Occasionally, letters are corrected, additional words are scribbled in and words are scrawled in the margins: addendum that would be redundant in a made-up text. At times, it looks as if two hands wrote the text, although this is possibly because of fluctuations in style based on space, ink and pen. The idea that this is a heavily-ciphered notebook, not intended for publication, seems like the most sensible one, but who knows?
Is this an essential read on its own merits? No, of course not, and it's likely that if anyone ever untangled it, it would be a dry read. What makes it so fascinating is that, 600 years after its apparent creation, it continues to confound all who've encountered it: a reminder perhaps that we still don't know everything about the world.
The surviving document is 200 pages of handwritten parchment, mostly illustrated. The drawings generally appear to have been drawn before the text was written, as the text is squeezed around the drawings. The text is an unintelligible alphabet which shares some characters in common with Latin script, but other characters are unique to the document. There are no other surviving documents written in this alphabet and no Rosetta Stone to translate it. Sometimes the drawings are labelled, but are themselves too ambiguous to serve as a decipher.
The work is generally considered to have five sections, named after their illustrations: 'herbal' (mysterious drawings of possibly imaginary plants, occasionally with scary properties like eyes or faces), 'astrological' (unquestionably circular diagrams of the stars, occasionally with the signs of the Zodiac illustrated and labelled in Latin), 'biological' (mysterious naked female figures in bizarre bathing apparatuses, some hand-powered in obscure ways), 'cosmological' (possibly topographical maps, possibly not), 'pharmaceutical' (cross-sections of obscure plants and perhaps some jars) and, mysteriously, 'recipes' (page after page of virtually unillustrated text). By 21st century standards, all of the illustrations are dreadful, compounded by an often crude paint job of primary school quality. Sometimes, the diagrams fold out over multiple larger pages. Sometimes, the text follows the diagram around the page (circular, or in a square), which brings experimental novel formats like 'House of Leaves' to mind. Gradually, additional letters appear in the text and start appearing regularly. Sometimes, the same word recurs twice in a row; sometimes the word is almost identical to the previous word (4oHoq 4oHox), but then this is true of English too: Brad, a bard, had had a pad of rad, or bad, examples of this. What's interesting about reading page after page of repetitive characters is the way it makes you think about language in general.
Some observations: although someone somehow managed to convince King Rudolf II to part with a fair whack of gold for this book, the hoax theory doesn't feel entirely apt: the slapdash illustrations surely wouldn't have fooled anyone, the language's inherent rules seem too sophisticated for a prank, and the original book was 270 pages long. Occasionally, letters are corrected, additional words are scribbled in and words are scrawled in the margins: addendum that would be redundant in a made-up text. At times, it looks as if two hands wrote the text, although this is possibly because of fluctuations in style based on space, ink and pen. The idea that this is a heavily-ciphered notebook, not intended for publication, seems like the most sensible one, but who knows?
Is this an essential read on its own merits? No, of course not, and it's likely that if anyone ever untangled it, it would be a dry read. What makes it so fascinating is that, 600 years after its apparent creation, it continues to confound all who've encountered it: a reminder perhaps that we still don't know everything about the world.
February 7, 2017
With its strange appearance, botanical illustrations and some-time alleged connection to Roger Bacon, the Voynich manuscript is of interest to those who like illustrated medieval manuscripts, history of science and puzzles. If you haven't come across it, the Voynich manuscript is a heavily illustrated (with a mix of botanical and really weird images) book, written in an unknown script that has never been deciphered. Some believe that the book is a genuine work, others that the writing can't be deciphered as it never had any meaning, thinking it a fake, probably with the intention of producing a saleable oddity.
What is undeniable is that this new book on the manuscript is a handsome and weighty tome, over 30 cm tall and weighing in at 1.78 kilos. It's an expensive production featuring a semi-transparent dustcover with a vellum-like texture. Closing the book are around 60 pages of commentary - but what makes this volume remarkable is that the majority of it consists of accurate full colour reproductions of the Voynich manuscript's pages, down to having fold-outs for the pages in the original that are similarly structured.
It is, without doubt, the quality reproductions of pages of the manuscript itself that make this volume of interest - it is, effectively, a picture book. The supporting text is a little disappointing. We get articles on the earliest owners, Voynich (the buyer who made it famous), physical analysis of the book itself, early attempts to de-crypt the 'cipher' as is sometimes known, a little on the alchemical tradition (represented in some of the illustrations) and an overview. But apart from the physical analysis section, which is unusually detailed, the rest is summary. Most disappointingly, the 'deciphering' section has far too little on suggestions that the whole thing is a (probably medieval) fake, which some believe to be the case based on, for example, fascinating analysis by Gordon Rugg (who isn't mentioned). I would easily give the book four stars for the reproduction of the manuscript - it's the surrounding text that pulls it down.
If you are Voynich manuscript fan, you will want a copy of this book. It may even be the case if you're a lover of heavily illustrated medieval books. If you are not quite so committed, the cost may put you off, but it's worth borrowing from a library to see what all the fuss has been about.
What is undeniable is that this new book on the manuscript is a handsome and weighty tome, over 30 cm tall and weighing in at 1.78 kilos. It's an expensive production featuring a semi-transparent dustcover with a vellum-like texture. Closing the book are around 60 pages of commentary - but what makes this volume remarkable is that the majority of it consists of accurate full colour reproductions of the Voynich manuscript's pages, down to having fold-outs for the pages in the original that are similarly structured.
It is, without doubt, the quality reproductions of pages of the manuscript itself that make this volume of interest - it is, effectively, a picture book. The supporting text is a little disappointing. We get articles on the earliest owners, Voynich (the buyer who made it famous), physical analysis of the book itself, early attempts to de-crypt the 'cipher' as is sometimes known, a little on the alchemical tradition (represented in some of the illustrations) and an overview. But apart from the physical analysis section, which is unusually detailed, the rest is summary. Most disappointingly, the 'deciphering' section has far too little on suggestions that the whole thing is a (probably medieval) fake, which some believe to be the case based on, for example, fascinating analysis by Gordon Rugg (who isn't mentioned). I would easily give the book four stars for the reproduction of the manuscript - it's the surrounding text that pulls it down.
If you are Voynich manuscript fan, you will want a copy of this book. It may even be the case if you're a lover of heavily illustrated medieval books. If you are not quite so committed, the cost may put you off, but it's worth borrowing from a library to see what all the fuss has been about.
April 19, 2021
An update:
The University of Arizona has carbon dated the parchment, placing the manuscript’s creation with 94% accuracy during the years 1404-1438. The art is largely fantastical, except for a castle with swallow-tail machicolation. The only castles in Europe like this during said time period were in Northern Italy.
Getting closer !
The University of Arizona has carbon dated the parchment, placing the manuscript’s creation with 94% accuracy during the years 1404-1438. The art is largely fantastical, except for a castle with swallow-tail machicolation. The only castles in Europe like this during said time period were in Northern Italy.
Getting closer !
February 3, 2012
Brilliant prose, and adequate artwork. All of the secrets of the universe are revealed in these page.
January 17, 2022
The manuscript is named after Wilfrid Voynich, a Polish book dealer who purchased it in 1912. No one can read because it is written in code in an unknown language. I downloaded this book from www.holybooks.com its a 209 pages of pictures with great quality so you can zoom in to see the images upclose.
The rating are for the esthetic and uniqueness, as I can't read it either. This manuscript contain A LOT of drawings mostly plants. Tubers, corms and rhizomes type of plants are drawn a lot with multiple type of leaves and flowers. They all unique and enjoyable, just like looking at plants in the nature.
On page 50/209 (on the pdf) there's a small dragon like creature sucking on a leaf a green plant, cute. This is the first animal drawn in the book.
On page 114/209 There are 4 people in the middle of a circle with their arm up (represents the 4 winds?), there are more circles encircle the main one. Is this a compass? Anyway this is the beauty of this book there are many many drawings that will take you into a different world!
Page 121 to 134 all about circles! Lots of images of moon, sun, zodiac.
Page 134 onward the artist starting to draw a lot of people, mostly in groups, working together, bathing together, doing different tasks but well-connected between each other.
Page 158/ 209 is one of the biggest illustration in the book, there are 9 connected circles with great details of drawings in each of them.
Definitely a breath taking book of art! Who knows maybe one day this manuscript will be successfully decoded.
The rating are for the esthetic and uniqueness, as I can't read it either. This manuscript contain A LOT of drawings mostly plants. Tubers, corms and rhizomes type of plants are drawn a lot with multiple type of leaves and flowers. They all unique and enjoyable, just like looking at plants in the nature.
On page 50/209 (on the pdf) there's a small dragon like creature sucking on a leaf a green plant, cute. This is the first animal drawn in the book.
On page 114/209 There are 4 people in the middle of a circle with their arm up (represents the 4 winds?), there are more circles encircle the main one. Is this a compass? Anyway this is the beauty of this book there are many many drawings that will take you into a different world!
Page 121 to 134 all about circles! Lots of images of moon, sun, zodiac.
Page 134 onward the artist starting to draw a lot of people, mostly in groups, working together, bathing together, doing different tasks but well-connected between each other.
Page 158/ 209 is one of the biggest illustration in the book, there are 9 connected circles with great details of drawings in each of them.
Definitely a breath taking book of art! Who knows maybe one day this manuscript will be successfully decoded.
December 20, 2014
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. Fabulous book from the early 1400s, hand written on velum. I had to incorporate it into the story of An Unruly Pawn by A. D. Morel. The actual book is housed at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, New Haven, CT. I downloaded it (URL below), had it printed in full color (need a budget for this), punched holes and put it in a 3-ring binder. That's how much I like this book.
But it's enigma, unreadable -- no one has conclusively figured out what language this is, or deciphered what it says. To my mind the elaborate hand-painted drawings of the plants and people indicate that this might be a book of health knowledge, a pharmacopaeia, within a bathing culture, a women's book. You can read all about it on the web but take it with a grain of salt -- much is speculation, written by erudite scholars and others, and why not! Such a fun "read"!
Voynich Manuscript Download (53.6 M)
But it's enigma, unreadable -- no one has conclusively figured out what language this is, or deciphered what it says. To my mind the elaborate hand-painted drawings of the plants and people indicate that this might be a book of health knowledge, a pharmacopaeia, within a bathing culture, a women's book. You can read all about it on the web but take it with a grain of salt -- much is speculation, written by erudite scholars and others, and why not! Such a fun "read"!
Voynich Manuscript Download (53.6 M)
February 7, 2021
What an eye-opening read! Took me a little to get used to the writing style, but totally worth it!
The emotional journey I experienced going from page to page made me a new person. Crying tears of joy, tears of agony. Truth hurts, as we all know. The Voynich Manuscript hurts. It claws it's teeth into your brain, seeps deep inside your veins and doesnt let go. Will never let you part with the knowledge it imparted onto you.
Expect nothing less than the answers.
:-)
Reminded me of Jurgen Leitners library.
The emotional journey I experienced going from page to page made me a new person. Crying tears of joy, tears of agony. Truth hurts, as we all know. The Voynich Manuscript hurts. It claws it's teeth into your brain, seeps deep inside your veins and doesnt let go. Will never let you part with the knowledge it imparted onto you.
Expect nothing less than the answers.
:-)
Reminded me of Jurgen Leitners library.
Want to read
September 13, 2017http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2017/...
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-2688...#
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/a...
https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/pu...
Cryptic Voynich manuscript may actually be guide for medieval women’s health
in: https://www.rt.com/news/403234-myster...
Efefocnahtredrahsisiht.
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-2688...#
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/a...
https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/pu...
Cryptic Voynich manuscript may actually be guide for medieval women’s health
in: https://www.rt.com/news/403234-myster...
Efefocnahtredrahsisiht.
September 3, 2025
Sin más, supongo que me gustaría más si estuviese en FP de jardinería.
October 19, 2019
On p. 72 of the MS. there is a star chart with the constellation Libra in the middle, and under that the letters "octobrs." I interpret this to mean "Octobris" or "October," the month mostly governed by Libra.
If the rest of the book is this easy, the whole thing's just going to fall into place...
ETA: The rest of the book was not as easy.
If the rest of the book is this easy, the whole thing's just going to fall into place...
ETA: The rest of the book was not as easy.
March 2, 2018
There is little that has to be said about this manuscript, and perhaps that is because this manuscript, in turn, has so little to say in any language that we can recognize. Okay, that's not entirely fair -- attempts to decode the manuscript have actually been going quite well, to be honest, and it likely has much to owe to amateur medievalists, historians, translators, and linguists on the internet since the manuscript has become available online. That being said, the Voynich Manuscript being the Voynich Manuscript, every step forward seems to bring us only more steps back. C'est la Voynich, as they say.*
Whenever I whip this book out, the mystery comes out with it. Almost everyone I've shown this too immediately become engrossed in it and starts to make their own observations. One friend excitedly pointed out that the manuscript still uses Arabic numbers (those were, I learned from the essays, added by a later owner), and a few attempting to decode the book's apparent zodiac; another, took a surprisingly botanical approach and tries to identify the plants therein. It's like a giant communal puzzle that everyone can try to solve on their own -- just don't cheat and look up the already heaps of clues posted to YouTube. That defeats the personal game.
What's cool about this facsimile copy isn't just it's beautiful, high-resolution, glossy spreads of the manuscript's pages, with ample space for notation -- although those are very, very cool:
...what I was not expecting was to be so enraptured by the thorough histories included within this volume, including those concerning the incredible swashbuckling life of the manuscript's discoverer, Wilfrid Voynich. What is also very cool is that the book contains a brief study of the manuscript's components, and various (occasionally superfluous -- or at least insofar as my own ignorance is concerned) tests which have been performed on the work:
...and diagrams concerning the manuscript's binding:
Easily one of the coolest books I own, and for ~$40 it was a total steal. Def rec.
[photos courtesy of "8 Books a Year"]
_____
* Actually, c'est la "Beinecke MS 408," as that seems to be the manuscript's more official title. It just isn't quite as sexy.
Whenever I whip this book out, the mystery comes out with it. Almost everyone I've shown this too immediately become engrossed in it and starts to make their own observations. One friend excitedly pointed out that the manuscript still uses Arabic numbers (those were, I learned from the essays, added by a later owner), and a few attempting to decode the book's apparent zodiac; another, took a surprisingly botanical approach and tries to identify the plants therein. It's like a giant communal puzzle that everyone can try to solve on their own -- just don't cheat and look up the already heaps of clues posted to YouTube. That defeats the personal game.
What's cool about this facsimile copy isn't just it's beautiful, high-resolution, glossy spreads of the manuscript's pages, with ample space for notation -- although those are very, very cool:
...what I was not expecting was to be so enraptured by the thorough histories included within this volume, including those concerning the incredible swashbuckling life of the manuscript's discoverer, Wilfrid Voynich. What is also very cool is that the book contains a brief study of the manuscript's components, and various (occasionally superfluous -- or at least insofar as my own ignorance is concerned) tests which have been performed on the work:
...and diagrams concerning the manuscript's binding:
Easily one of the coolest books I own, and for ~$40 it was a total steal. Def rec.
[photos courtesy of "8 Books a Year"]
_____
* Actually, c'est la "Beinecke MS 408," as that seems to be the manuscript's more official title. It just isn't quite as sexy.
May 28, 2017
La reproducción del libro en sí es impecable, pero los estudios que viene al final no tanto. No es que sean malos, es que son escasos y salvo el que cuenta el análisis del pergamino y las tintas, bastante superficiales e incluso fuera de lugar, como la biografía casi completa de Voynich.
Después de haberlo ojeado y hojeado (y descifrado al completo, por supuesto), yo también tengo una teoría:
*El herbolario es completamente desconocido.
*La sección de balnearios, interpretada literalmente, queda un poco absurda.
*La sección de "farmacopea" también es completamente desconocida.
*La de las hojas astrológicas/cosmológicas describen soles y "horóscopos" desconocidos.
Demos una pasada analítica a esto.
Mujeres que juegan en el agua, que se "conectan" unas con otras a través de "tuberías" y que parece que duermen en piscinas... Algunas de esas tuberías terminan en estrellas y otras en raíces o cables. Las mujeres tienen las manos metidas en los tubos.
A eso hay que añadir que la sección astrológica, y sobre todo la página plegada en seis, describe una especie de sistemas solares interconectados entre sí...
Hagamos un esfuerzo de imaginación e imaginemos que las piscinas son cámaras criogénicas, los tubos que las mujeres tocan sean pantallas de ordenador, que van en "tubos" (cables) hacia las cámaras criogénicas, y que encima hay algunas imágenes en las que parece que las mujeres "salen" de los tubos (cámaras criogénicas).
Ahora inter-relacionemos eso con mapas estelares, flora extraterreste y un "recetario" en el que aparecen dibujados, más que recipientes, unas especies de urnas que muy bien podrían ser invernaderos.
Recientes estudios estadísticos del texto señalan que es muy seguro que lo escrito sea una lengua normal más que una cifra...
Tenemos la receta exacta para un libro copiado de un viajero estelar. Teoría que seguro se le ha ocurrido a más de uno y que tiene la validez de un elefante rosa, pero ahí está.
Después de haberlo ojeado y hojeado (y descifrado al completo, por supuesto), yo también tengo una teoría:
*El herbolario es completamente desconocido.
*La sección de balnearios, interpretada literalmente, queda un poco absurda.
*La sección de "farmacopea" también es completamente desconocida.
*La de las hojas astrológicas/cosmológicas describen soles y "horóscopos" desconocidos.
Demos una pasada analítica a esto.
Mujeres que juegan en el agua, que se "conectan" unas con otras a través de "tuberías" y que parece que duermen en piscinas... Algunas de esas tuberías terminan en estrellas y otras en raíces o cables. Las mujeres tienen las manos metidas en los tubos.
A eso hay que añadir que la sección astrológica, y sobre todo la página plegada en seis, describe una especie de sistemas solares interconectados entre sí...
Hagamos un esfuerzo de imaginación e imaginemos que las piscinas son cámaras criogénicas, los tubos que las mujeres tocan sean pantallas de ordenador, que van en "tubos" (cables) hacia las cámaras criogénicas, y que encima hay algunas imágenes en las que parece que las mujeres "salen" de los tubos (cámaras criogénicas).
Ahora inter-relacionemos eso con mapas estelares, flora extraterreste y un "recetario" en el que aparecen dibujados, más que recipientes, unas especies de urnas que muy bien podrían ser invernaderos.
Recientes estudios estadísticos del texto señalan que es muy seguro que lo escrito sea una lengua normal más que una cifra...
Tenemos la receta exacta para un libro copiado de un viajero estelar. Teoría que seguro se le ha ocurrido a más de uno y que tiene la validez de un elefante rosa, pero ahí está.
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