Re: VMs: Re: Facts and Fallacies

[Gordon Rugg <g.rugg@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I'd been wondering about apparent dates for a while. I don't think there's
a particular problem about the VMS containing references to dates that
were still in the future when it was written - this would be reasonable if
it is a coded astrological document containing predictions. Elizabethan
astrologers, for instance, predicted that the conjunction of Saturn and
Jupiter in 1583 would bring in the era of the Fiery Trigon, culminating in
assorted disasters in 1588.

I think there's more of a problem, as Rene says, about how old the VMS
would have appeared to be when it was sold to Rudolph. As far as I know,
vellum doesn't show as many obvious signs of age as paper does, but the
colour of the ink would be an issue, if the VMS is written in oak gall ink
which turns brown with age. I don't know how quickly this happens - does
anyone out there have any figures?

If the VMS was hoaxed, its apparent age might have been a factor affecting
the hoaxer's choice of subject matter - the VMS could be sold on the basis
of its sheer strangeness, rather than on the basis of its apparent age or
apparent country of origin. A related possibility is that it was sold with
the implication that it contained alchemical secrets which had not yet
been deciphered.

Best wishes,

Gordon

Rene Zandbergen wrote:

> --- Robert Teague <rteague@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> > So far, nobody has shown where the number
> > correspondences are wrong;
> > just a general reaction of "I don't buy into it
> > because the time period revealed
> > isn't what I think it should be".
>
> It is probably just as hard to prove that it is
> wrong, as it is to prove that it is right.
> But the objection regarding the time period is
> (in my opinion) a significant one.
> We don't know if anybody in Rudolf's court would
> really have thought that the MS was from Roger
> Bacon, but they would not have been fooled by
> a brand new MS. Rudolf died in 1611 (IIRC).
> In 1637 the MS is mentioned
> for the first time, so the MS definitely
> predates that year. The opinions of various
> experts in their own fields (Panofsky, Toresella)
> dating the MS to the late 1400's also counts
> very heavily.
>
> All this means that evidence for a theory
> which is at variance with this would have to be
> really strong.
> But as you will have noticed, people are listening
> to just about everything that is being said on
> the list, so if you can make a case, you will
> be heard.
>
> Keep it up!
>
> Rene
>
>
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