Re: astrological iconography

["Rafal T. Prinke" <rafalp@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Dennis wrote:
> 
>         The recent speculation on an East European provenance
> for the VMs amuses me.  In 1996, when I first started
> posting to the list, I suggested an East European
> provenance, my reasoning being that this was a lesser
> known part of Europe where something strange might have
> gone unnoticed by history.  I was ignored.

While I agree with you that this part of Europe is
highly possible, the reason you give is equally
amusing to me. This "lesser known part of Europe" where
"something strange might have gone unnoticed by history"
sounds like an introduction to Roman Polanski's _Dracula_ <g>.

I know you meant "historians reading/writing in English"
and that was exactly my point in "deconstructing" the Dee-VMS
connection.

>         In those distant days I wondered about the Polish
> alchemist Michael Sendivogius as a candidate for
> authorship of the VMs.  One of your articles on Adam
> McLean's site notes, "The Polish alchemist started his
> higher education at the Jagiellonian University in
> Cracow in about 1582".   He's too late for our usual
> dating, but not impossible, since he was in Rudolph
> II's court at the right time.  

In fact this is a hypothesis as his name is not listed
in the immatriculation records. But as he was born not far
from (or maybe even in) Cracow and lived in the city, 
it is quite probable. But I would rather speculate he 
may have been the "bearer" not the author. That is why 
I have included his life span on the VMS chronology chart at:

http://hum.amu.edu.pl/~rafalp/HERM/VMS/chrono.gif

> To palm off your school
> doodlings onto the sovereign for the present-day
> equivalent of 1 MM US$ would take a lot of chutzpah -
> and some very creating doodlings indeed!

But if you find a 200 years old notebook with doodlings 
that are no longer understood? 

If it indeed is a lecture notebook, then the old hypothesis
of a system of stenography makes much more sense.

Best regards,

Rafal