Voynich Net Forum

There could be several copies of the Voynich Manuscript, and they differed from each other. Perhaps several fragments from different versions of the manuscript survived, and then they were put together. The Voynich manuscripts are a purely commercial project on which people have been making money for 600 years in a row. It is a hoax written by a group of doctors, astrologers, balneologists, diplomats, advisers, poets, writers, magicians, philosophers and alchemists from the inner circle of Duke Albrecht III of Bavaria-Munich and Emperor Sigismund I of Luxembourg for sessions of white magic, in which the authors of the manuscripts (and there were from 5 to 12 slightly different unbound copies) were selling their recipes, advices and services. Sessions of white magic were often conducted by duchesses (who were fond of the occult sciences) in their castles, and the doctors wrote out prescriptions for the participants in the sessions, who were mainly women from noble and wealthy families. Therefore, the Voynich manuscripts were aimed primarily at women. In the 15th century in Upper Bavaria, something unusual was happening in high circles. The unfortunate medieval Bavarian duchesses were forced to annually bring an heir to the duke, turning into a "maternity machine". Their life could have become unbearable if not for one circumstance. The court physician Johannes Hartlieb, together with other court specialists, developed a commercial project aimed at women from high society - a series of "Voynich Manuscripts" - sophisticated hoaxes. These manuscripts did not use a cipher, but an imitation of a cipher, and the five pieces of the extant manuscript differ from each other lexically, and this clearly indicates that there were several manuscripts, and they were used as a sales tool. Lacking sufficient education in the field of astrology, alchemy and medicine, the duchesses nevertheless became interested in sessions of white magic, for which strange manuscripts were ideally suited. For ladies it was great entertainment, and for court doctors, balneologists, herbalists, advisers, writers and poets it was a source of good income. The duchesses, who conducted sessions of white magic in various Bavarian castles, predicted the fate of the ladies and gave recommendations on how to achieve "happiness", and the doctors and other specialists, for an appropriate fee, wrote out prescriptions and referrals, gave advices, composed "magic" poems, compiled individual horoscopes, etc. And now, 600 years after it was written, the Voynich Manuscript continues to bring income for scientists, publishers, filmmakers, bloggers, etc. I have identified the circle of possible authors of the Voynich Manuscript and its "victims". In the near future I will find evidence of the correctness of my theory. It is a pity that many castles and documents no longer exist.

Is there any evidence of this or just speculation?

Is there any evidence of this or just speculation?

I was going to ask the same thing, actually. There have not been found, nor described, any trace of anything remotely similar to the Voynich manuscript for all of history. If there were these many copies, as claimed, surely there would be some evidence of it, or some reason to believe this is the case. But I know of nothing which might even hint at this possibility.

Why do you believe this is the case?

Rich.

Evidences:
1. 5 parts were written by different people (Lisa Fagin Davis (2022, 2023))
2. 2 diagrams were duplicated by different people (f70v1, f71r, f71v, f72r)

Amelkin,
English can be very confusing because it says 'he wrote that' to mean only 'he scribed it' or to mean 'he is the original author'.

I think Dr. Fagin Davis was identifying 5 different persons who inscribed part of the text.
Perhaps her imagination forms a picture of five people all 'authors' of different parts, but there is no evidence for that - all we can say with fair certainty is that, in the opinion of one specialist in Latin palaeography, not less than five scribes were involved .

YOu say, 'There could be several copies of the Voynich Manuscript....' This does not seem probable, given the diversity of style in drawing. It is more probable that a person or group of persons were given the work of copying information from a range of other sources, to suit the particular needs of the person who was to pay them for their work.

Perhaps several fragments from different versions of the manuscript survived, and then they were put together. The Voynich manuscripts are a purely commercial project on which people have been making money for 600 years in a row. It is a hoax written by a group of doctors, astrologers, balneologists, diplomats, advisers, poets, writers, magicians, philosophers and alchemists from the inner circle of Duke Albrecht III of Bavaria-Munich and Emperor Sigismund I of Luxembourg for sessions of white magic, in which the authors of the manuscripts (and there were from 5 to 12 slightly different unbound copies) were selling their recipes, advices and services. Sessions of white magic were often conducted by duchesses (who were fond of the occult sciences) in their castles, and the doctors wrote out prescriptions for the participants in the sessions, who were mainly women from noble and wealthy families.

I'm a bit bemused by that string of assertions. I should like to see whose research produced those results. Can you direct me, please?


I'm afraid the 'Hartleib' idea doesn't quite work. Hartleib didn't translate the 'Trotula' until the 1450s, which is not less than a decade after te Voynich quires were inscribed, and perhaps as many as fifty years later. There are earlier copies, and earlier translations. Why pick on that one? ( It's a genuine question. I can't see any reason for it, and would like to understand).

Dear Diane,

2 duplicates of circular diagrams "Aberil" and "May" (f70v1 vs f71r and f71v vs f72r1) were made by 2 different people. They differ syntactically and stylistically and very likely belong to two different versions of the Voynich Manuscript. What is the point of duplicating diagrams within one version of the manuscript?