Re: Ink and paper analysis?

["Dana F. Scott" <dfscott@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Testing the ink and vellum would be useful if a date could be set at say plus or
minus 25 years. Hopefully the sample size would be quite small and the testing
unobtrusive. It may be that the manuscript was written/produced over most of the
adult life of the individual who produced the VMS which could span around 50
years. And then there is the possibility that more than one person worked on it.
I am a bit concerned that so many people seem to getting their bare hands (no
gloves) on the manuscript. There is historical precedence for establishing when
the document first appeared. From what I have observed so far, I am still
inclined to date the manuscript within the second half of the 16th century, but
of course I have no first hand physical/chemical/nuclear evidence to support my
hypothesis. So "poof", no big bang or insight into a precise dating of the VMS;
at least not yet.

Regards,
Dana Scott

John Bush wrote:

> At 12:17 PM 3/22/01 -0800, Adams Douglas wrote:
>
> >......... If the VMs is from 1600-1950, then C-14 dating is difficult due
> >to the radiocarbon production plateau during that era. If it's from earlier
> >in that millineum, then C-14 dating is possible for the vellum.
>
> Seems to me that's a good argument for running the tests.
>    __jeb

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