Re: Dioscorides de herbis femininis

[Rene Zandbergen <r_zandbergen@xxxxxxxxx>]

Adam wrote:


> In view of the little female figures that appear
> often in the
> Voynich it may be that this entire work was
> related to female matters.
> 
> I have discovered that there is a subclass of
> manuscript 
> herbals, dating from the 6th Century, though the
> earliest
> surviving manuscript is 9th century. They are
> entitled
> 'Dioscorides de herbis femininis' and have a list of
>  71
> herbs, which I suppose are to be used specifically
> for
> feminine conditions.
> 
> Has anyone looked at these manuscripts with a view
> to
> them providing a crib for the Voynich ?

History repeats again :-)

I asked the question a few years ago, and I remember
getting a reply from Jim Reeds' wife, which has 
unfortunately been lost in one of my mail crashes.
I remember the gist of it.
The plants depicted in 'de herbis' are the ones
which are supposed to be feminine and they trace
back to Dioscorides. This herbal was (IIRC) studied
closely by Henry(?) Sigerist and later John Riddle,
both famous herbalists, and they should have 
picked up any relation between it and the VMs.
I fully agree that it is a promising lead and to
be honest I  am only 95% convinced that it has been
closed.

Cheers, Rene



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