VMs: Re: Barachias

[Dana Scott <dfscott@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Perhaps, but what precedence would there have been for Kircher to do
this? What would the earth shaking motive have been? For a man of
Kircher's stature and genius duping the hoi polloi would have been less
rewarding it seems to me than inventing a 'perfect' cipher, in which
case our quest is no less the worse for wear. I think "the game is still
afoot". Kircher certainly was not in need of funds nor more fame than he
had already acquired. His voluminous correspondence does not appear to
hint at foul play nor do I expect that his intellect exhibited
uncontrolled signs of grandeur even if he did have an inflated ego, but
then again what do I know? Was he really that interested in botany and
nymphs, baths, astrology, cosmology, the sun, the moon, and the stars?
If indeed the VMS can be attributed to Kircher then I would tend to side
with his having developed the manuscript as a challenge to mankind to
decipher this exquisite enigma. So it may be a hoax of a different sort
but from Kircher's camp I would still expect the VMS to produce a
cornucopia of meaningful content.

Regards,
Dana Scott

Rene Zandbergen wrote:

> --- Jorge Stolfi <stolfi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> > Ohmy!
> >
> > Notice that the manuscript, Marci's "cover letter",
> > and all the
> > original letters that mention Georg Baresch and/or
> > the VMS were found
> > among Kircher's correspondence at PUG...
> >
> > ...so here is Voynich Theory 12,332-B: not only the
> > VMS, but also all
> > those letters, were faked by Kircher himself!  And
> > Georg Baresch is no
> > more real than Rabbi Barachias!
>
> Yes! He had to insert these letters among the other
> ones unobtrusively, so he just took out and replaced
> most of the ones containing drawings and copies
> of sword inscriptions, etc. which explains why they
> are all missing, and there's no gap in the page
> numbering.
>
> But was it Kircher, or an overly zealous Jesuit after
> him?
>
> Cheers, Rene
>
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