The Voynich Ninja

The explanation the Bodleian Library gives is

"The text prefaced with a painted frontispiece on four levels: the signs of the zodiac, twelve men exhibiting the influence of these constellations, the stars (or planets generally), and seven men with rays shining on them exhibiting the appropriate influence"

and they surly are right. The text directly under the frontispiece is a dedication to John of Bedford.

(19-02-2021, 03:19 PM)Helmut Winkler Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.The explanation the Bodleian Library gives is

"The text prefaced with a painted frontispiece on four levels: the signs of the zodiac, twelve men exhibiting the influence of these constellations, the stars (or planets generally), and seven men with rays shining on them exhibiting the appropriate influence"

and they surly are right. The text directly under the frontispiece is a dedication to John of Bedford.

I live in Oxford, so if it is generally deemed necessary and it has not been digitised I could potentially take photos of the manuscript. I should add that I have very little interest in this manuscript myself as the lines of research that I am focussed on are quite different.

I was unable to find a printed edition of the work. According to You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view., Roland's Physionomia only appears in manuscript form. He mentions You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.. Unluckily, the scans are quite poor, but it is interesting that the manuscript also contains a copy of Picatrix.


You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. comments the illustration and confirms what Koen wrote You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.:

Oxford University Wrote:People under the influence of the zodiac and the planets from the opening of Roland of Lisbon’s Reductorium physiognomie, manuscript produced in England, 15th c. Two rows of men stand beneath the heavens at the beginning of this 15th century work on medicine. Each man in the top row is associated with one of the twelve signs of the zodiac ranged above him. Each in the second row is struck by the rays of force emanating from one of the seven planets. At the time these were considered to include the Sun (the central star here) and the moon (to the right hand side). This manuscript is a copy of a work commissioned by John, Duke of Bedford, one of the most lavish patrons of English manuscript production in the 1400s, from his personal physician and astrologer, Roland of Lisbon, who was also a master of medicine in Paris.

The Lisbon copy linked by Helmut is more readable than the one at the BNF. Also, the titles of the six parts of the work have been transcribed on the site (but with a few errors, I think).

Quote:Dedicatória
Primus tractatus est causarum signorum intus dicendorum demonstratius
Tractatus secundus declarat particularit physonomia coloris pilorum et membrorum animatorum seu sensitivarum particularum et differentie sexus
Tractatus tercius huius operis. In quo declaratur iudicium naturalium inclinationum hominis per formas et figuras et lineationes brachiorum et manuum
Tractatus IIII de iudiciis morum per dispositiones membrorum animatorum et operationes eorundum
Tractatus quintus declararans iudicia morum per dispositiones membrorum nutritivorum generativorum et progressiuorum
Tractatus sextus et ultimus In quo sigillati colliguntur signa divisorum morum virtutum et viciorum ex pluribus partibus corporis humani

Unreliable partial translation:
Dedication
1. Causes of the signs [i.e physical traits] that will be discussed in this work
2. Hair colour, movement, sensibility and differences between the sexes
3. Judging natural inclinations of people by the shape of their arms and hands
4. Judging habits by the arrangement and the operation of moving body parts
5. Judging habits by the arrangement of the nutritional, reproductive and walking[?] body parts
6. Summary of the different signs about virtues and vices in the different parts of the human body

The work is about You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.: "the practice of assessing a person's character or personality from their outer appearance".
The first chapter extensively discusses how appearance and character are influenced by the planets and the zodiac signs.

At You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. it is described how to identify the planet that has the strongest influence upon a birth. In the following pages, the influence of the different planets according to their positions with each other is described.
P.40-42 discuss the influence of each of the 12 zodiac signs.

Thanks Marco, that explains a lot!

This image from You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. must be related, right? It seems like a watered-down version of the Phisionomia image.

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