Re: VMs: Re: Plants in the VM

[William Edmondson <w.h.edmondson@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi

DANA SCOTT wrote:
> Hello Jan,
>
> It seems that there are varying degrees of cryptobotony involved with the 
> plants. The plant drawing in f09v is clearly viola tricolor or a very close 
> variation.

I'm not that convinced - nor by the idea that the upsidedownness would result
from seeing a collected specimen - most herbal/botanical drawings will be
from collected specimens.

Even a dried/pressed speciment (Viola dries/presses well) will not invert
the flower head.

Most of the 'plant' drawings are too weird - especially in comparison with
other herbals/plant drawings from 15/16 C which are much more accurate and
recognizable.

Crypto?  no, I think plain incompetent.


Cheers

William
> What is interesting about the plant is the positioning of the 
> flowers which appear to be turned upside down, suggesting that the plant was 
> drawn from a collected specimen. Some plants show arrangements that seem to 
> express a personal significance, though some of the drawings most likely 
> resemble real plants, at least in part if not in whole. A number of the 
> suggested matches are certainly very close if not right on. The fact that 
> many of the plants exude certain toxins is probably accurate, which in part 
> may suggest a need for secrecy; imagine if the manuscript were a document 
> used by assassins. More likely it falls in the realm of medicinal 
> applications as practiced by physicians, surgeons, alchemists, nuns, 
> stregherians, etc. Presently I am interested in strega and the Old Religion 
> of Italy, though in the past I looked closely at the pure science of botany. 
> I would say that the plant drawings are based in part, if not in whole, on 
> real plants the characteristics of which were well known to the author of 
> the VMS.
>
>
> Regards,
> Dana Scott
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Jan" <hurychj@xxxxxxxxx>
> To: <vms-list@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Saturday, May 22, 2004 6:12 AM
> Subject: VMs: Plants in the VM
>
>
> > Hello,
> >
> > looking at the plants in the VM, it occured to me, that they are 
> > unrecognizable, because the author deliberately  modified their 
> > appearance. Did anybody get the same impression? I do not mean that they 
> > contain the code - that would be real overkill -  but in the case the book 
> > contains some secret recipes (e.g. for  "Aqua Sinapia" or others) it would 
> > be foolish to hide the text and provide the exact pictures of the real 
> > plants used.
> >
> > Some plant parts are defnitely "out of this world", but they also look 
> > like fabrications. On the other hand, they also contain some elements of 
> > true  plants, many  of them recognizable, see ref. 
> > http://nabataea.net/vplants.html
> >
> >
> > Best regards.
> > Jan
> >
> >
> >
> >
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-- 
Dr William H Edmondson
School of Computer Science
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston B15 2TT
United Kingdom

Voice  -  +44-121-414-4763
email  -  w.h.edmondson@xxxxxxxxxx