Just a quick Voynich thought for you (I’ve been typing all day and my fingers are tired, so apologies for keeping it very brief) .
On f86v3, have you noticed how the two spotty, side-profile beak, wings-outstretched birds are almost identical? Apart from the fact the one on the right here (which is in the bottom right corner of the actual page) has some kind of heavily-inked line in front of it, and that there’s a faint line behind and to the left of its right wing. (Click on the picture for a full-resolution version.)
Furthermore, the vertical lines just to the right of the second bird are in a much fainter ink, which is a bit reminiscent of some of the balneo section drawings I’ve discussed here before. This leaves me with a lingering suspicion that this page may (once again) have been executed in two passes – a first layout pass, and a second obfuscatory pass. Don’t know what it all means, but it’s interesting all the same. 🙂
Check this out: http://img521.imageshack.us/img521/1636/crudemnpltn.jpg
I did the crudest mspaint image manipulation ever, and it turns out that the bird is there to obfuscate fact that it’s actually a drawing of… uh, you tell me.
It looks like a heart, kind of.
Hey Nick! Wow “great minds” and all that… but on the 10th I posted a near identical cropping of the same birds: http://proto57.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/bird_compare.jpg
They are next to a flying and sitting set of birds from Maier’s book of emblems. In that, they are representing air and earth. I also feel the birds on f86v could be the elements air and earth, as the upper left illustration could be water. The lower left does not look a lot like fire… but there you go.
The entire post is here:
http://proto57.wordpress.com/2010/02/10/elements-in-the-voynich/
I agree with you that they are almost identical, and could even be representing the same bird, in flight and resting. But I don’t personally ascribe much to the relative weight of the inks in this case… I mean, yes, a second pass, but not necessarily to obfuscate anything. Unlike the zodiac labels, which I do suspect this was done. IMO. Rich.
I’m pretty sure that the zodiac labels were added by a later owner – different hand, different ink, different style, different everything. I’m more interested in those areas which show some evidence of internal layering, and trying to identify the various rationales behind the evolution of the VMs’ writing and drawing. We shall see…
Hi Nick,
How about those scribbles in the middle of this page and the circular diagram that looks like a depiction of the movement of venus?
If you have difficulty seeing the circle then try whacking up the contrast or saturation etc. and all will be revealed.
It’s well noted that venus moves in a five pointed pattern across the sky (and well loved by the mysteriouso), but if the straight lines on this diagram are meant to be the horizon and zenith line then someone in the know should be able to say at what lattitude the observer was based at. Which would help point to (or away) from Italia.
Marko
Hi Marke,
Thanks for your comment (and emails) on this apparent T-O map visual device. Some time ago, I posted (probably to the list, I can’t remember) that I thought the scribbles on this page might well have been a signature (perhaps Baresch’s?) blotted onto the page by accident, but I haven’t been able to dig up the comment. Also, I’m not sure I can see enough to support the link with Venus’ apparent motion, but it’s certainly an interesting idea. More as I find it…
Cheers, ….Nick Pelling….
yeah sorry for ‘broadsiding’ you there….wasn’t sure if the email address I had for you was the right one. Do you agree that the circle is there and purposeful etc.? The venus motion takes a little leap for sure….especially cos it only shows 4 of the 5 points on the path….
The Voynich isn’t a human language. I think it’s the sounds of the birds. That would explain the lack of symbols, the repetition of words whith little variations, and the lack of complex structure needed for logic interpretation. There was no internet so listening to bird conversation would be common.