Re: VMs: Mad Kircher, was (lots)

[Rene Zandbergen <r_zandbergen@xxxxxxxxx>]

Rafal wrote:

> And - once again - the sum calculated in this way
> does not tell us much about the purchasing power
> circa 1600, as the structure of prices and wages
> was very different, and the value of gold/silver 
> is not absolute. 

I think that we should not forget that for 
Rudolf this was pocket money (more so in the
earlier days of his reign than later on).

What would have been the value for the seller?
Presumably very different.

But there is more:
Given Rudolf's position, the person owning such
a book could have hoped for much more than just
the price he could sell it for. He could have
obtained Rudolf's patronage, i.e. much more money
than 600 ducats.

Rudolf was aware that some of his applicants for
patronage were scam artists, so he had them 
screened by Th.Hajek (I'm not sure for which 
time frame this is valid).
There are many possible scenarios: e.g. that the
bearer of the MS was 'found out' and the best he
could achieve was to sell his book. That 
still leaves open both possibilities, the VMs could
have been a contemporary fake or an honest
old and unintelligible book.

Cheers, Rene

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