VMs: Re: Introduction, speculations, & questions

["Jeff" <jeff@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Barbara Barrett barbarabarrett@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

> Barbara babbles;
>
> Hi All ;-)
> At 49 there are few things I can claim "virginity" in but the Voynich
> MSS certainly falls into that category!
> I became interested via a few TV docos and a few articles in magazines
> like Fortean Times and a goooogle of Web sites. I was born in '54, I'm
> Northern Irish, unmarried, I live in a beautiful part of rural Berkshire
> in Southern England. I gave up being a therapist/counsellor to look
> after a disabled lad full time (whom I've since informally adopted as my
> son) so I'm a full time carer now.
>
> I was originally trained as typographer and layout & paste-up artist
> back in the early 70's (just before DTP cut that job market in the late
> 80's down to nearly nil! - story of my life really, this is Betamax
> Woman writing here!) which engendered a lifelong interest in type design
> and writing systems. Particularly the latter, the various "logics" used
> world wide to encipher spoken language fascinate me (I got so deep into
> middle egyptian hieroglyphs I ended up learning the language too! I've
> also smatterings of Irish, Japanese, Akkadian, and a few dialects of
> english which technically qualify as languages in their own right like
> Scots, Won Tok, and Ulsterscots). My interest in forteana has given me a
> passing knowledge of Alchemy, Hermetism, Medieval Astrology, medieval
> secret writing systems, and the Qabbalah (some of which seem to be the
> subject matter of the Voynich)
>
> It is the writing system of the Voynich MSS that fascinates me; how does
> it work, what is its logic? This question doesn't *seem* to be answered
> as sites/docos/articles have numerated the total graphemes of the
> Voynich MSS as small as 14 and as large as over 40. There also seemed,
> from the info, many attempts to decrypt the document but few (if any) to
> decipher it.
>
> I know from personal experience that even a known language written in a
> writing system with a unique logic is almost impossible to decipher and
> there hangs a tale that might amuse you, but it might bore you too, so
> I'll save that for later.
>
> I therefore suspect that a Kober/Ventris approach might determine not
> what language is used but how the Voynich writing system works. From
> this you can deduce that I'm of the opinion that the MSS is designed to
> be just picked up and read by anyone who understands the system (and
> language). A Kober/Ventris approach *might* also identify how the
> language works (if not the language itself). I suspect, for example,
> that because the Voynich is obviously supposed to be secret that things
> like pronouns are run into the words they act upon.
> Even in medieval times writers knew that 1/2/3 letter words could
> provide "cribs" for decryption, and by Elizabethan times frequency
> analysis was a known "code breaking" technique (as in cracking Mary
> Queen of Scots cypher alphabet) - such run-ins would confound frequency
> analysis.
>
> The other thing that attracted me was the plant drawings which I've
> often found described as "fantasy plants", however my great great
> grandmother McBride was a herbalist, she died before I was born, but I
> saw her journals. She was no artist, so when she drew medicinal plants
> she exaggerated the features by which they'd be identified and was very
> careful about colours. The Voynich "fantasy plants" remind me very much
> of great great granny McBride's drawings. I think herbalists could
> identify the plants (as opposed to botanists who're obviously looking
> for exactitude rather than a memory aide). However, even if you
> assembled every name for a plant in all the older versions of european
> languages a "crib" would not be forthcoming unless one knows how the
> writing system works. Hence the Kober/Ventris approach first.
>
> Now I'll sit back and wait for all the posts telling me I'm reinventing
> the wheel and all this was done by X and Y in nineteenbodythrim ;-).
>

> My questions as fairly simple. Is there a FAQ out there that explains
> the Jargon used on this list? And has anyone published a reasonably
> affordable facsimile of the Voynich MSS and where do I get my sweaty
> hands on it?
> (URLs are not a good idea for me as it costs me 5p just to initiate a
> phone call, and being on a fixed income I want to keep costs down by
> working in hardcopy as much as possible).
>
> Happy to make your acquaintance.
>
> Barbara
>

Hi Barbara. There has just been a thread on making pdfs of the VMS available
either on cd or via web site. I presume a cd would be more up your street.
Your background seems to be just the ticket for the Voynich and new ideas
never go amiss. I do believe you are right in assuming that you great great
granny may have recognized the plants. I do believe it is that simple. Just
like the cross on an OS map. Everyone knows it is a church.

Good hunting and welcome to the VMS list.

Jeff


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