VMs: Re: Introduction

["Robert Teague" <rteague@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Ted Young wrote:

> Hail the list!

Welcome, Ted!

> As I am both new to this list and to the study of the VMs, I would like to
> introduce myself.  My name is Ted Young.  I live in (very) upstate NY.  I
> have been in the Computer Science field for over 8 years now.  I have a
> strong background in various computer languages, technologies and
platforms.
> Also, I have studied linguistics off and on since fourth grade, when I
> learned my first language (after English of course); Ancient Egyptian.

I'm Robert Teague, living in Atlanta, GA. I've been a member for somewhat
less than a year. My interests are in astronomy and astrophysics, so I work
mostly with the Astro and Cosmo sections.

> Unfortunately, the first time I crossed paths with the VMs was only last
> week, when I stumbled across an article about Gordon Rugg's work with a
> Cardan Grille.  I did a little research into the VMs and immediately
became
> enraptured by its mystery and charm.  Over the last ten days, I have been
> scouring the internet reading every article I can find on the subject.
When
> I found this E-List, I decided to give it a try.  I was very happy to find
> it still, seemingly, active.

Yes, this list is active. Dry spells happen, though usually not for more
than
a day or two. There is also a list on Yahoo Groups that's not affiliated
with
this one. It doesn't seem to be active, though.

> I can honestly say that I will not be the one that figures out the secret
to
> decoding the VMs, but I would love to contribute what I can and will
really
> enjoy the ride.

You never know.

> I have spent a lot of time working from Stolfi's website[1], and the many
> sites linked from his page.  I have also been to the The European Voynich
> Manuscript Transcription Project homepage where I got a copy of the Eva
font
> and the latest Interlinear file (though it seems that Stolfi's version has
a
> lot more in it, please correct me if I am wrong).  Are their any other
> resources I should be reading to get myself caught up with the latest
> advances in this field?

You might want to get and read the mail traffic from this list; the archives
are available from the beginning, back in 1991. It's rather intimidating,
though fascinating.  Member Nick Pelling is working toward getting the
archives made into a searchable database.

Current discussions include Jeff's decoding scheme, the plan to get a
digital copy of the VMs made, several historical figures, my recent
discovery of (apparently) the date 1708 written on f1r and its possible
connection to the alphabet table there.

As far as I can determine, there are two books still in print: D'Imperio's
monograph and Levitov's book. I have the first, and have ordered the
second through Border's Books.

Gypsy wrote:

> ....hello, I am new to the list so please forgive me if I seem ignorant on
alot of the aspects of the VM.

Welcome to the club!  : )

> I am wondering ..........is it a fact that the manuscript is in code or
could it be an unknown language?
> Perhaps a dead one?  Or alien one?

Nobody knows (yet), although Jeff's attempt using Italian seems to hold
promise.

> Also all the pictures of the plants.........have any been identified?
Thanks in advance.  ~Gypsy

Some, but I couldn't tell you which.

Robert


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