10-08-2020, 03:37 PM
(07-08-2020, 08:52 AM)ReneZ Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Dear Ahmet,
I wanted to give some more constructive feedback to You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. , which was quite amazing and just made me want to say "Wow", but someone else already said it before me.
A lot is known about the life of Voynich, and you may not be fully aware of that.
Any theory about the manuscript that goes against some of the established history of it, has a major problem.
This is true for the theory that Voynich faked it, that Edward Kelly faked it, or that it was written in Meso-America. We know that it was produced in the early 15th century, and that it was in Prague/Bohemia at the start of the 17th century. We also know that it was with the Roman Jesuits from 1665 onwards. There are of course also many specific details that we do not know.
So by adding the type of speculation to your work, that is written in the post that I linked, you are creating a problem for your theory.
However, this is not at all necessary.
There are several completely logical and historically acceptable ways, how a MS that was in Turkey in the 1500's could end up at the court of Rudolf II.
Ogier Ghislain de Busbecq spent many years in the Ottoman empire, and acquired numerous items for his patron Maximilian II, who was the father of Rudolf II.
Leonhard Rauwolf traveled extensively in the near East, and later sold some of his books to Rudolf II.
Rudolf II was very interested in tulips, and bought many bulbs that came from the near East, probably Turkey.
Certainly, there were many contacts and any of them could (theoretically) bring a book from Turkey to Prague.
Dear Rene,
The probability you mentioned is possible. Moreover, at that time, the Ottoman Empire was in constant diplomatic relations with all kingdoms in Europe, and ambassadors were frequenting both sides. I cannot ignore this possibility you mentioned.
However, I must say that I have been researching this issue for a long time as you all, and I was scanned over ten thousand manuscripts. The last Ottoman period is also the period that Voynich and his bookstores was active.
Numerous articles and researches have been indicated about lost manuscripts in Ottoman/Turkey. But, no one knows the exact number of the stolen manuscripts and historical artifacts. It is known that the Ottoman administration have been lost total control in all matters before and during the occupation by the British, Italian, French ...etc soldiers.
I saw certain information in some archive record in Turkey.
I wanted to scan full of the Ottoman archives to see any copy with VMS alphabet. Because I thought two copies of the VMS were made, but I couldn't complete that scanning works yet. This part is a long term project for sure.
Although I couldn't find exactly what I was looking for, I found information that some libraries were burned. Later, when I focused on this topic, I came to the findings that I think may be a link between fires. Voynich has sold rare manuscripts for nearly 30 years. It has organized sales points throughout Europe, included America. We know that in 1902 he handed over thousands of manuscripts to the British Museum at once. In that time period booksellers didn't just sell books in their own shops only. They also sold their books through by shops of others in a close network. So they were in communication with each other.
The question is simple. For about 30 years, Voynich has filled shops and did wholesales events too.
We all are mostly talking about VMS, but how many manuscripts or rare books could this guy was sold in about 30 years? Where was the actual source of these books? Did he really find it in Europe? After my research I have something to say I don't think so.
The Ottomans were sending gifts to European kings in some periods. We know that among them was manuscripts. We know this because that gifts were recorded in the Ottoman archives. So they have records about that part. And some historians use this information in their book and/or articles.
Some manuscripts consisted of two or more volumes. For example, an Arabic manuscript was translated into Persian or Turkish by order of the Sultan, and the exact copy was prepared in a second language. The first volume of this type in Europe but the second volume still in Turkey today. About those there is no record about gifting. So, we can trace some of the manuscripts. But these are very few.
It is a known fact that a number of historical artifacts and manuscripts have been smuggled (with tens thousands of in number according to some researchers estimate) in that period.
Until now, it was thought that these were caused by a large number of anonymous thefts, and it is unknown exactly how many items were stolen. I predict the number to be around 1 million pieces. However, many libraries were burned down in the same period and the list of artifacts inside were burned in these fires. Therefore, we cannot trace the majority of manuscripts.
Of course, I cannot say that I put all the parts in place in this puzzle. However, I think we put some parts of this puzzle in the right places.
At the same time, I think it will be useful to cooperate with people who have worked on this subject for a long time and to do research together. We are also open to work with those who want to collaborate for illuminated that dark part of the history.
Thanks,
Ahmet