FWIIW, an insert at the beginning of "A Fifth List of Books", by W. M. Voynich (September, 1901) states the following: "Note To My Readers." "I have distributed some three or four thousand copies of each of my former Lists, mostly free, but in connection with the great expenses attendant upon preparing and issuing these Catalogues, I have decided to send the sixth and succeeding Lists to such Librarians and private collectors only, outside of my circle of customers, as care to make application to me." This is no doubt the price of doing business. An insert at the beginning of Voynich's "A Sixth List of Books" (November 29, 1901) continues with: "In the course of January next, will be issued an Index to the first six lists, containing: 1, Index to Authors; 2, to Towns; 3, to Presses; 4, to Plates. Price 2/6, post free. As a comparatively small number of copies will be printed (1,000 as against the 3,000 or 4,000 of the lists), librarians and collectors who wish to have the Index are advised to apply as early as possible. No free copies." Regards, Dana Scott ----- Original Message ----- From: Rafal T. Prinke Sent: Monday, December 30, 2002 2:31 PM To: vms-list@xxxxxxxxxxx Subject: Re: VMs: new revelations
Nick Pelling wrote:
> *Excellent* stuff, well done! :-)
I will try to pursue this trail - unfortunately the biographical
dictionary of Polish revolutionaries stopped at letter K when
communism collapsed :-)
> I believe that Voynich wanted credibility as a rare book-dealer, but
> without having to continually do clandestine deals to place MS that perhaps
> should have stayed put (such as that which I imagine him to have brokered
> with the SJ)... which is what he saw in the VMS' shattered mirror, but
> never achieved.
At that time he had already been internationally recognized
- but I am still buffled by the number of catalogues
he issued at the turn of the centuries, with probably hundreds
of "otherwise unknown" incunabula and MSS.
I will have a look at the 1901 catalogue later this week
(they have it in Poznan University Library). BTW: the call
number starts with 666. Are we inside a cheap movie?
> However, YODIMV (your own dialectical interpretation may vary). :-)
A thought has been germinating at the back of my head
which I tried to suppress... but one of Voynich's cypher
letters says: "I will bring you 250 books and also have
a real passport factory here". And then I found this on the Net:
http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi1027.htm
Can Bancroft Library be checked where they bought that MS?
Best regards,
Rafal
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