Re: VMs: Impressions

["GC" <gc-@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Nick wrote:

> But as for NSEW, I don't currently know: though IIRC there's an arrow 
> hidden round one of the rosettes, which might point the way towards an 
> answer... what do you think?

I would be interested in your ideas, but what I think is another one of 
those slippery slopes so common in Voynichiana.  The short answer is that I 
haven't a clue, since I haven't yet worked on these pages, and only briefly 
scan them whenever I look at them, which is why I was wondering if you'd 
done anything in detail.

The slippery slope comes in when I view other manuscripts that contain maps, 
like that of Anthony Ascham, his translation of Sacro Bosco's "Sphaerae". 
The drawings of buildings (mostly churches) in places can be tentatively 
matched to vague descriptions of these places, but it is clear that the 
15/16 year old that translated this book and added this material had never 
been to any of these places, so his buildings and landscape are from 
imagination.

The problem comes when we try to match a castle or building.  It fits a 
general description, but how accurate is it?  How accurate are early maps of 
London?  Not very.  Yet we find that architectural variance is wide enough 
to find matches to even the most general of drawings, which is a problem, as 
is human perception also a problem.  I saw the spires for instance, in the 
center of the map, and first thought of Constantinople, while others would 
not think of this.  In a Christian context, this could well be 
Constantinople, but is that the context meant by the author?  I honestly 
don't know, and sorry for adding one more variable to the equation.

I am certain however that we will find a general knowledge in this map that 
equates to NSEW, and general locations of the countries/cities involved. 
There also may be numerical coordinates involved, though again, I have not 
worked on this page, so cannot be certain.  If you look at coordinate 
systems available at the time, something may come of this.  Longitudes and 
latitudes were in use in the early 16th century, but they did not always 
agree as to the zero baseline, and were used only in the general sense 
(little navigational accuracy).  It's all up in the air at the moment, IMHO.

Sorry I couldn't offer more in the way of support.

GC 

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