nick pelling – independent historian [email protected] vellum – radiocarbon dated to...
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![Page 1: Nick Pelling – Independent Historian nickpelling@nickpelling.com Vellum – radiocarbon dated to (1404… Prague – provenance](https://reader036.vdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022081602/5513d7c555034679748b4ff8/html5/thumbnails/1.jpg)
Nick Pelling – Independent Historian
http://www.ciphermysteries.com/
Vellum – radiocarbon dated to (1404…
Prague – provenance dated to …1612)
Between Vellum & Prague
…what happened?
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Different Types of Evidence
• Physical – radiocarbon date, spectroscopy
• Technical – Art History, technique, cladistics
• Textual – close reading, reference analysis
• Analytical – codicology, palaeography
• Social – provenance, mentions, debate
Codicology = “archaeology of the page”
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Codicology: separate the layers!
• Support material (vellum)
• Ink + drawings + paint(s)
• Marginalia + annotation + colophon
• Quire / book / folio numbering
• Corrections + emendations + lacunae
• Contact transfers + stains + accidents
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Forensic analysis: “CSI: Voynich”!
• Locard’s Exchange Principle– “Every contact leaves a trace”
• Reconstruct the layer deposition order– Like a crime scene! (But with ink, not blood!)
• Events leave marks between layers– This lets us infer intermediate states
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So, let’s take a look at…
…the Voynich Manuscript’squire numbers
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Similar numbers (#1)
Cod Sang 839 [Thomas Sauvaget]
This also has book numbers in top margins:19, 29, 39, 49, 59
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Similar numbers (#2)
Cod Sang 688 [Philipp Lenz]
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Similar numbers (#3)
Seckau Abbey MS 384 [Thomas Sauvaget]
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Similar numbers (#4)
Žiče Monastery MS 972 [Thomas Sauvaget]
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Similar numbers (#5)
1464: Flores Musicae Cod.poet.et.phil.qt.52
[Thomas Sauvaget]
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One other thing to note…
The “chicken scratch” marginalia are onf66v (in Q8) and f86v3 (in Q14)
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Voynich Quire Numbers
• Quiration uses C15 number forms– Noted by John Matthews Manly in 1931
• Quire number gaps need explanation!
• A rarely used quire numbering system– pm9, 29, 39, 49, 5t9, 6t9, 7m9, 8u9, 9n9, 10m9 – “Abbreviated longhand Roman ordinals”
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Voynich Folio Numbers
• Foliation uses C16 number forms– Probably added not long before Prague
• Folio number gaps need explanation!
• At least some paint was added later– Under microscope, f42r’s “42” is overpainted
• (Rene Zandbergen, 2009)
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Quire order ≠ folio order!
• C15 quire numbers vs C16 folio numbers
• Q9 (‘Quire 9’) was restitched between quiration and foliation (John Grove)
• Same for nine-rosette Q14 (Glen Claston)
• Q2’s quire ‘-9’ terminates in Q6 (Pelling)
Quiration and foliation were independent!
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Quire order ≠ original quire order!
• Q8 & Q13 – quire number on the wrong page
• Q13 & Q20 – both originally in two half-quires
• Q15 & Q19 – quires are in reverse order
Quire numberer was not the original author!
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Many quire number puzzles!
• Multiple quire hands (Pelling 2006)
• Multiple quire hand numbering styles
• Quire sequence gaps (Q16 & Q18 missing)
• Quire order different from original order
• Quire order different from folio order
• Chicken scratch marginalia separated
So… what happened to the quire numbers?
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Generally accepted ‘explanation’
‘Q16 & Q18 were probably single bifolios removed by Baresch to send to Kircher’
Problem: fails to explain the various quire hands, nor why quire hand #1 didn’t number all the quires in one go. Unlikely!
Bigger problem: only explanation on offer.
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Intellectual History
• Assumes actions done in good faith
• Assumes rationality under trying conditions
• Primarily constrain hypotheses to evidence
• Few accounts normally fit all the evidence
A poor fit for cryptographic puzzles…
But an excellent fit for pure codicology!
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Intellectual history of the quires
Two core presumptions:-
• The quire numbers are not deceptive
• The quire numberer(s) followed ‘the rules’:-
1. Number the quires in order
2. No need to number the endmost quire
3. Put number at bottom right of back page
4. Number each separate book individually
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So… a tentative reconstruction
This is what I believe happened…
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Quire state prior to quiration…
The Voynich Manuscript arrived on Quire Hand #1’s desk as three separate books!
Book A: Q1-Q7,Q17,Q8(Q14),Q9-Q12,Q20
Book B: Q13
Book C: Q19,Q15
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Step #1: origin of Q19…
• Q19 was the 1st quire of Book C, and was numbered ‘19’ (‘primus’) by someone else!
• Q15 was the 2nd (and last) quire of Book C, so needed no quire number
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Step #2: origin of Q13…
• An owner rationalized Book A and Book B into a single Book AB1
• AB1: Q1-Q7,Q17,Q8(Q14),Q9-Q13, Q20
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Step #3: Q14 falls out…
• First folded page of Q14 was f86v3
• Q14’s binding damaged, so had fallen out
• Q14 was reinserted immediately after Q8
• AB2: Q1-Q7,Q17,Q8,Q14,Q9-Q13,Q20
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Step #4: ‘chicken scratches’ redux
• f66v is the last page of Q8
• f86v3 is still the first page of Q14
• Chicken scratch marginalia added to f66v and f86v3 - facing pages!
• AB3 = AB2 (but with chicken scratches)
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Step #5: origin of Q14…
• Nine-rosette Q14 needed rebinding
• Nine-rosette page was removed from after Q8 & reinserted after Q13
• AB4: Q1-Q7,Q17,Q8-Q14,Q20
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Step #6: origin of Q15…
• The owner wanted to rationalize Book AB4 and Book C into a single book
• Inserted Book C between Q14 and Q20
• Reversed order of Q15 and Q19!
• (Probably added Q20’s quire number)
• ABC1 = Q1-Q7,Q17,Q8-Q15,Q19,Q20
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Step #7: origin of Q17…
• Q17 was originally ‘7m9’, but contained uncomfortably wide folios. Sat awkwardly.
• The owner concluded that it should sit between the wide Q15 and Q19 quires
• Reordered & changed ‘7m9’ to ’17m9’
• ABC2 = Q1-Q15,Q17,Q19,Q20
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Step #8: the missing bifolios
Q: where did Q8’s missing bifolios go?
A: the foliator saw the stubs of Q14’s ripped fold still in place in the centre of Q8, and counted the stubs as missing bifolios.
i.e. the nine-rosette page was literally in two places at once, so was double-counted!
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Step #9: origin of Q6/Q7…
• Q6 / Q7 ended up with no quire numbers
• An owner concluded that these should be quirated in the original numbering style
• Final quire order: Q1-Q15,Q17,Q19,Q20
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Conclusions (#1)
• Several people worked on the Voynich– At least two during C15
• They sought to give it form and order
• They looked for clues in the marginalia(…even if they didn’t always get it right!)
• Reordered & restitched sympathetically
They were bibliophiles… librarians.
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Conclusions (#2)
• C15 hybrid numbering scheme is unusual– One foot in medieval traditions– One foot in contemporary practices– Torn between the two
Not humanists, but monks!
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Two Speculative Hypotheses
1. “The Monastic Library Hypothesis”– “The Voynich Manuscript was given to Rudolf II by a
representative or inheritor of an abbey, monastery or friary.”
2. “The Franciscan Library Hypothesis”– “The Voynich Manuscript was given to Rudolf II by a
representative or inheritor of a Franciscan abbey, monastery or friary.”
(Roger Bacon was a Franciscan monk)
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PS: enciphered quire numbers?