The Voynich Ninja

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(20-07-2017, 10:13 PM)davidjackson Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Anton, going back to your original post about the numbering. 

It strikes me that the numbers are more likely to be shelf marks - locators- than acquisition numbering.

The discrepancy in numbering / saying that you mention would be because the cataloguing would have been done once his library was big enough to warrant such a system, ie, towards the end of his life.


That meets some counter-arguments, the foremost of which at 2am local time here in Moscow appears to me thus:

if the numbering were done all at once at some later time, then the numbers would have been a) consistent in their form and b) consistent in their ink, neither of which seems to be in place.
Consistent in form, yes, but not necessarily in ink, as we don't know the procedure (the librarian could have been writing down a catalogue at the same time, maybe only a couple of books a day, etc). As for the form, I don't have sufficient knowledge of the subject to judge.
Note the shape of the "N" in "No". Some have one crossbar, others have two.
There's been certain progress with the man Wroblicius.

His enigmatic 1611 book has been digitized and is available here: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.

Several things are immediately evident.

1. This is not a book, but a thesis - as far as I can understand, for the degree of bachelor of theology. I do not know whether this means that Wroblicius really studied in Graz (as suggested above) or not, but the fact  that he published his thesis in Graz makes this likely. This also confirms that he was not an old man in 1611.

2. Lamormain is not the co-author of the book (so the catalogue record was misguiding), instead he is featured as "praeside" - I guess this is something like head of the committee which disputes the thesis and then awards the degree. This explains away the otherwise strange connection between famous Lamormain and obscure Wroblicius - namely, there is no connection whatsoever Smile

3. The thesis is dedicated to one Popel from Lobkoviz, which introduces another person into the stage. Some information can be found about this Wenceslas William (or Vaclav Vilem) Popel on the internet, but I'm very busy for some weeks to come to dig any deeper right now. It is interesting that, judging by the initials, the coat of arms on page 2 is that of Popel.

Could those who are proficient in Latin please have a look at the title page and the preface (dedication) and advise:

a) what is the correct translation of the title page, especially what does "Ex Ferdinandaeo" mean? Does that relate to the court?

b) is there anything interesting in the preface in terms of Wroblicius's biography and his relations with Popel, and also what information about Popel is there? Was Popel Wroblicius's benefactor, or what reason was there for Wroblicius to place Popel's coat of arms into the book?
Although the full-text of "Bohemian and Moravian Graduals, 1420-1620" is not available on the internet, with a certain google-books search technique I was able to discover what is the book featuring the marginal handwriting of Wroblicius quoted by JKP above:

"Ab Anno 1611 ad Mensem Martium, diem 16 indictione septima. Anno 1624 hunc librum talem qualem vides inveni M. Albertus Wroblicius... Baccal parochus Maioris Bitessi."

The book in question is preserved in the local museum of Velka Bites (a place north west to Brno) and, according to the "Bohemian and Moravian Graduals" is known under the reference of "C1/7 (Olim: E. II. 3)" (whatever that means).

I don't know what's the title of the book, but four pages are dedicated to it in "Bohemian and Moravian Graduals", in which pages there also appears to be some information about the local parish of the time. I was able to discover that the book dates to before 1516 and was repaired in 1611. (This may correlate with what Wroblicius inscripted, maybe the passage about 1611 is just the end of a phrase). Unfortunately, it is very cumbersome to pull the full text of those pages out of google books, so I dropped the attempt. Maybe someone owns "Bohemian and Moravian Graduals" or can access it in a library and can advise.

The more straightforward approach would be to visit the museum and look at Wroblicius handwriting directly. Who happens to be in Brno, please take time to visit the museum of Velka Bites! Cool

Note that this Wroblicius of Velka Bites is self-described as holding the bachelor degree, which suggests he is the same person who defended his thesis in 1611 in Graz.

So , to recap: in 1604 he was already collecting books (remember Horcicky's book #4). In mid-1600's he is possibly studying in Prague. In 1611 he defends bachelor's thesis in Graz. From 1614 to 16?? he is in Kojetin (also near Brno), and in 1624 he is found in Velka Bites. I guess these backwater parishes are not what one could expect having a Popel for his patron?! Of course, 1612 is the death of Rudolf II, so that might explain.

By the way, what i'm puzzled about is what that "M" is preceding "Albertus" in the name of Wroblicius.
Re discussion above: Velka Bites just translates to "Bites Maior" in Latin.
Link to the thesis:

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I'm very busy right now and can't look into this very interesting information, Anton and I don't know if there's a connection between Jesuit Guillaume Germé de Lamormain and P. Vilém Lamormain, but in case it's of use, here's some of the history on Vilém Lamormain:

Formerly of the Seminary of the Poor, Confessor of Emperor Ferdinand II, active in the Catholic reformation in Bohemia, part of which involved establishing Catholic schools (for boys and girls).



Link to R.P. Gulielmo Lamormaini book on Ferdinand II:

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You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. (full scan, different edition)
Thanks Anton.

the "Popel von Lobkowitz" branch figured among the  highest nobility in Prague at the time of Rudolf.
Tepenec dedicated his 1609 book on the Catholic Confession to another member of this branch, with the same
coat of arms:

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(it may be necessary to scroll back or forth to find the coat of arms).

Edit:
(It is necessary to scroll back quite a bit to find the coat of arms).
Also:
"Ferdinandeum" is the name of a Jesuit seminary in Graz, which was founded in 1574.
Quote: I don't know if there's a connection between Jesuit Guillaume Germé de Lamormain and P. Vilém Lamormain, but in case it's of use, here's some of the history on Vilém Lamormain

That's one and the same person. "Guillaume" and "Vilem" are different forms of the same name - one French, the other somehow Germanic I think (like Wilhelm). Same thing for the aforementioned Popel who is called "Gulielmo" in the dedication.

Quote:Tepenec dedicated his 1609 book on the Catholic Confession to another member of this branch, with the same

coat of arms

Thanks Rene, it looks like it was a tradition to include the coat of arms of the person whom the book was dedicated to. Tepenec dedicates his book to three people and includes three coats of arms.

Quote:the "Popel von Lobkowitz" branch figured among the  highest nobility in Prague at the time of Rudolf.

Indeed, the Lobkovitz family is one of the old noble families of Bohemia, featuring different branches, with Popels as one of them. There is even a Russian Wikipedia article about them. Zdeněk Vojtěch Popel z Lobkovic (to whom Tepenec dedicates his book) was the high chancellor of Bohemia. He had a son called Vaclav, but that was Vaclav Eusebius, not to be confused with Vaclav Vilem.

Vaclav Vilem Popel (1592 - 1621) appears to be a more or less important person who, according to google translate from Czech, "held the post of imperial council and chamberlain". It is also said that "he studied at the Jesuits in Prague". Here's the wiki article: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. . It is interesting that he died aged only 29, and given that this was the period of war and unrest, I wonder whether he died his own death.

Quote:"Ferdinandeum" is the name of a Jesuit seminary in Graz, which was founded in 1574.

Aha, that's nice! Since Lamormain was an jesuit and joined that order in Brno, he must have had some connections there. This might explain why Wroblicius received a parish in the rounabouts of Brno.
Well, returning to the books, and setting the weird numbering apart for the time, one valuable piece of information is that Wroblicius was still alive and well in 1624, residing in his parish in Velka Bites. While Horcicky died as early as 1622. This means that Horcicky could not acquire the Wroblicius's book (or, possibly, more books) as a consequence of Wroblicius's death (like e.g. by Wroblicius's will).

So there must have been some event or occasion for Wroblicius to part with his own book during his life. Like, he could present the book to Horcicky. However, we have no indications yet that Wroblicius was ever acquainted with Horcicky. Of course, he could present the book to someone who was acquainted with Horcicky, and then the book ultimately ended with Horcicky. The problem with this is that the book, as far as I understand, is nothing outstanding in terms of content, it's quite commonplace. As I mentioned above, there is calculation of the book's age put down by Wroblicius (which might suggest estimating its value for sale), but that dates to 1604 and thus makes no input to our reasoning unless Wroblicius parted with it as early as in 1604. However, that might also indicate that Wroblicius paid close attention to the age of books. The fact that he "found" (in his own words) an old book in Velka Bites and took effort to leave a note about that in that book also speaks about his interest in books.

More information about the life of Wroblicius prior to 1622 is needed. It is of interest whether there was an interruption in between his serving in Kojetin and Velka Bites. Probably, this can be checked through the records of the respective parishes, if they are preserved still. Generally, it is of great interest to know if Wroblicius was generally known for collecting old books, and also if there was some hard time in his life when he was in position to sell or otherwise give away his books.
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