Re: VMs: Reasearching the VMs at Beinecke

[steve ekwall <ekwall2@xxxxxxxx>]

 Date: Mon, 29 Aug 2005 05:26:01 -0400 (EDT)
 elillie@xxxxxxxxxxxx wrote 
(snip...)
 
 Please keep us informed as to any "new" order that suggests itself from
 your reconstruction efforts. The Mrsids were helpful, but nothing takes
 the place of being able to physically examine where the original "Tab A"
 fit into "Slot B".
 >
 > I can detect 4 separate binding of the VMs.  If you look at 71v and 101v
 > you  will see that one of the gutter folds in each of these samples is
 > unusually  wide.  The reason for this is that certain quires of the VMs
 > were folded,  not bound together into neat packets.  Therefore, certain
 > sections of the  VMs were originally simply folded, possibly for easy of
 > transportation.  The  dirt and creases of these packets can easily be
 > seen.  The dirt suggests  that these were working packets carried around
 > from place to place.  I  experimented with this fold process and it work
 > out very nicely.  So the  "original" binding was performed simply by
 > folding the contents of cetain  quires.  Another distinguishing feature
 > of the packet folios is that certain  folios have a very nice soft
 > velvet type feel like peach fuzz.
 
 It sounds like the "original" binding was more on the order of a group of
 essays folded up and stored together. This could explain how the "correct"
 order has become elusive... perhaps someone else trying to bind them
 together after the authors death?
 
 >
 > There are also signs that certain folios have been borrowed from other 
 > sources.  This is evidenced by straight line folded creases that can be
 > seen  when holding up the folio page to sunlight (I went through of
 > number of  physical contortions of myself to look at the manuscript;
 > proper lighting  was a bit difficult).  I suspect that the reason the
 > edges of some of the  folios were cut short and at a slant is perhaps to
 > remove prior foldings and  blemishes left over from the "original"
 > document.>
 
 If the Voynich author obtained his blank folios from other documents that
 he had access to, this could play havoc with attempts to date the
 manuscript based on the materials. Depending on where he got them, two
 consecutive sheets could have been produced hundreds of miles and decades
 apart ... more if any of them were recovered like a palimpsest.
 
 Hope you enjoyed your "vacation",
 
 Erni
 
-=se=->
 
HummMMmMMm...
~Weird~, ES said (Oct 6, 2000 ~11pm) the 'pages "WERE NOT IN 
ORDER"'...

-=se=-
steve (how'd ES _know that_ ?????) ekwall :-)

<-=se=-

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