Re: Why not Dee?

[Jorge Stolfi <stolfi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

    > [Rafal:] There was no imperial link at all and the information
    > about Rudolf and the 600 ducats was intended to interest Kircher
    > (in the same way as the Egyptian link in Baresch's letter).

I am willing to believe that Baresch was sincere when he suggested an
"oriental" origin for the manuscript. ("Sincere" doesn't mean
"correct", of course.)

After all, he clearly presented the claim as his own speculation,
nothing else:

  "In fact, it is quite probable that some good man, interested in
  the true medical science (having realised that the common method
  of healing in Europe was not very effective) went to the oriental
  regions, where he acquired some Egyptian treasures of medicine,
  partly from books, partly also from discussions with the expers in
  this art, and that he took this information back with him, buried
  in this book with its characters.

  "This probability is increased by these exotic herbs, drawn in
  the Volume, which escape from the knowledge of the people
  in the German country." 

As for the specific mention of Egypt, I think it would have been a
natural guess for the epoch, since Egypt was *the* land of mysterious
writings and fogotten knowledge. Besides, he may have used "Egyptian"
as a surrogate for "exotic", much as we would use "Martians" to 
refer to any hypothetic extra-terrestrials.

Claiming that he wrote "Egyptian" only to draw Kircher's attention is
pure guess, and only one of the possibilities. I think it is just as
likely that he was moved to write to Kircher because he had already 
come to suspect that VMS was Egyptian.

    > The Uppsala MS by Misovsky has a section on secret writing
    > and was completed in 1628. So if Dr. Raphael knew about
    > VMS at that time (in fact he may have owned it for some time
    > and then sold it to Baresch) one would expect he should
    > have mentioned it in his work. 

Wow, here we have another instant theory:

  Dr. Raphael writes the VMS as a demonstration of his uncrackable
  code, gives it to Baresch, and has fun watching the poor man's
  struggle with it for years. When the Oedipus Aegypticus comes out,
  Raphael urges GB to send the book to Kircher --- for, what better
  prize can he yearn for than have his secret code certified as
  "Kircher-proof"? Unfortunately, GB refuses to send the book, Kircher
  ignores the letters, and nothing comes out of it. So when GB dies,
  Raphael again convinces his heir Marci to send the book to Kircher;
  and, for good measure, invents the story about Rudolf, Bacon, and
  the 600 ducats --- from which Marci, not exactly a provincial fool,
  was very careful to distance himself. (Indeed, his full quote of
  Rafael's name, contrasting with the omission of Baresch's, may have
  been a subtle hint to his friend Kircher --- "watch out, I smell a
  trick by this guy").

Jacobus's name on f1r may have been faked by Raphael; or may have been
written by Marci after hearing Rapahel's story. (BTW, I find 
an intriguing resemblance between the "T"s in the signature and in
Marci's letters...)

Of course this theory can be varied in many ways. I forgot the relevant
dates, but perhaps Dr. Raphael himself was the person who brought the
"Bacon" book to Rudolf and received the 600 ducats, and was later
amused to see the book in the hands of GB or Marci.  (In this variant,
the book may have passed through Jacobus's hands, so his name may indeed be 
his signature.)

.-,  (Only half of a smiley)

All the best,

--stolfi