The Voynich Ninja

How likely is it that we will be able to learn more about the author of the Voynich Manuscript?

On the assumption that, once we can read the Voynich Manuscript, the following are true:
1) we identify a named author;
2) he was European;
3) lived some time between 1400 and 1450;
4) had at least a moderate education and income; and
5) is not otherwise known to history.


I know that for England (for example; I do not believe the author was English) there are likely to be other documents of the period which identify clerks by name, either contracts, legal documents, accounts, and so on. But what if the author was Italian, German, Polish, Czech, or other? Will we be left with a name only or is there likely more that we can discover?

There are many records of deaths, inheritance, law suits, land titles being transferred but... it depends on the area, the person's social status, whether the records have been lost and whether the whole village was wiped out by plague.

I think this was someone of at least above average social/economic status so there might be something.

It's really a coin toss, though I'd say the chances are slim. A well known example in Dutch literature is You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.. Nothing is known about him with certainty, even though he wrote the most important version of the Reynaert legend and is certainly one of the most important medieval Flemish authors.

If it is possible to identify the author/writer/scribe, it is very likely there will be a lot of inormation, we are in 15th c. central Europe

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If it is possible to identify the author/writer/scribe, it is very likely there will be a lot of inormation, we are in 15th c. central Europe

Hi Emma May Smith,
I think it's also just as likely that even if the Voynich were deciphered, we might still not know the author.
We don't know the names of a large portion of the medieval scribes who wrote manuscripts we can read. Colophons help, but are not always present.
It's also possible that the author may identify himself in the book by some kind of bombastic nom-de-plume, as many alchemists did for example. So if the author does identify himself, it might be as, say, "Joe the Most Secretive" or "Son of Hermes" and if that's all the info we'll get about him as an author, it would make tracking down more about him rather difficult.

Hi Emma,
in my opinion, the most likely scenario is that we will only know what we can get from the manuscript.

There are examples like You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view., the illustrator of the 1420 ca Roccabonella / Rinio herbal (Venezia, Bibl. Naz. Marciana, Ms. lat.,cl. V, 59[=2548]) and Pennsylvania, You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. (recently discussed on You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.). His name is only known because it is mentioned in the prologue of the Roccabonella ms. On the other hand, the commissioner Nicolò Roccabonella is relatively well documented.

I think Manfredus De Monte Imperiale, author of Paris, You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view., early XIV Century, is only known by what he wrote of himself in the first lines of his own work.

The same holds for You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view., who in 1441 produced another illustrated herbal  (Bergamo, Codex MA 592).

In the case of the alchemical herbal, a single manuscript (Vicenza, Bertoliana 362, I think, I should check Segre-Rutz) attributes the work to one Orgiani Rizzardo (or Rizzardo from Orgiano), but the attribution is in a later hand, so in this case also the name is doubtful.

You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view., 1300 ca, was usurped by one You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. from Siena:  a few people with this name have been traced in various records, but it is not clear if any of them might be the right person. Anyway, Bartholomaeus erased the name of the true author, so we will never know who wrote the manuscript.