VMs: Manuscript, article and references

["Petr Kazil" <kazil@xxxxxxxxxx>]

This little manuscript contains a lot of hand drawn pictures and it shows a
lot of VMS-like imagery: stars, baths, bathers, diagrams, plants, castles,
etc. I have found a facsimile edition with commentary in the Royal Library
and I understand that it is all very "standard" alchemistical content. But
it is interesting to compare the drawings. For example notice that most
stars are six-pointed:

http://pkazil.free.fr/voy_chvhoff.html

There exist other versions of his own hand. One is (!) in the Beinecke:
Mellon ms 39. This one should also contain alchemistic apparatus. Another is
in London, Wellcome Historical Medical Library, Cod. 524, f 98-122 J. 1543

I also found a short article on Mr. Voynich. It praises his generosity when
he sold a big collection of rare books to the British Museum. They must have
been rare indeed as "not more than two or three of them have been
duplicated". Where did he get them from?

http://pkazil.free.fr/voy_athenaeum.html

I found a lot of references to "artificial languages" like Francis Lodwick's
"A common writing: whereby two, although not understanding one the other's
language, yet by the helpe thereof, may communicate their minds one to
another" (1647). George Dalgarno "Ars signorum" (1661) and John Wilkins
"Essays towards a real chracter and a philosophical language" (1668). I
think these have been discussed and found irrelevant. But a languge example
from Genesis looks strangely repetitive: Dan semu, sava samela nam t*n nom.
T*n nom avesa sof-shana t*n draga, t*n gromu avesa ben mem s*s bafu: t*n &n
s*f Sava damesa ben mem f*f nimmi.

I found "An historical and analytical bibliography of the literature of
cryptology" by Joseph S. Galland, Nothwestern University, 1945. It contains
several Voynich references and looks like a good read for another day.

What the R.L. does *not* have is: "On the study of early printed books:
Notes from a lecture by Wilfrid Voynich". 1903, The library : a magazine of
bibliography and literature. Vol 4, p. 189.

On the way to the library my bicycle splipped on the icy road and I fell on
my bum. It still hurts so I hope it was worth it :-)

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