The Voynich Ninja

Hello! I'm not quite sure if this is the right place (please please direct me if it isn't) but I wanted to share an insane research project I FINALLY completed! 
I'm an undergraduate (senior year!) student in Richmond, Virginia and just completed a WILD independent study project in which we literally just Made quire 15 (pages 87-90) of the Voynich manuscript!

Since things are horribly expensive, sadly we were using goatskin instead of vellum but otherwise we followed things as closely as historically possible! This included sketching with leadpoint, making iron gall inks and paints following actual 15th century recipes (including handmaking verdigris!), doing all the writing and drawings with hand-cut quills, the whole nine yards! 

It's an undergraduate project with zero funding so we could did one section but the goal is to make this as far as a masters project and even try to get approval to see the real thing! The project is focused on the idea of what historical reconstruction can tell you about a physical object

I've been working on this since January so I can Talk For So Long about it, so let me know if yall want to hear any more! Questions, comments, anything is welcome!

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Since this website sufficiently seems to hate me and my photos, instead of attaching photos straight to this post, I've decided to just link to You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.! 
(if you steal my photos, i WILL start crying and you will have that on your conscience forever)

A very thorough job. Congratulations.

Hi Cael! Love your enthusiasm
Tell me, what wonderous study is it that allows you to make part of the Voynich Manuscript as an undergraduate project? That's pretty awesome.

Some questions:
- I don't know all that much about making pigments. How did you decide which ingredients and recipes to use?
- Is it just a trick of the eye, or is the ratio of the pages different? Maybe a practical consideration?
- How was the experience of doing this? Which aspects were harder than you anticipated?

Well done.

Your ink looks darker than the original, but iron gall ink changes color slowly as the iron it contains rusts, so it will be just like the VM in a few centuries.

I see some accidental ink spill on "18Finished", is it possible to wash or scratch the surface to remove mistakes?

(06-05-2025, 05:31 PM)nablator Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Well done.

Your ink looks darker than the original, but iron gall ink changes color slowly as the iron it contains rusts, so it will be just like the VM in a few centuries.

I see some accidental ink spill on "18Finished", is it possible to wash or scratch the surface to remove mistakes?

Yes! There's some accidental ink stuff that's happened! I do believe it's possible to scratch the surface to remove mistakes, it would require a sharp blade and some sort of fine sandpaper, which would be historically accurate! It's definitely one of those 'clean up stages' things I need to get around to!

(06-05-2025, 03:55 PM)Koen G Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Hi Cael! Love your enthusiasm
Tell me, what wonderous study is it that allows you to make part of the Voynich Manuscript as an undergraduate project? That's pretty awesome.

Some questions:
- I don't know all that much about making pigments. How did you decide which ingredients and recipes to use?
- Is it just a trick of the eye, or is the ratio of the pages different? Maybe a practical consideration?
- How was the experience of doing this? Which aspects were harder than you anticipated?

1. Pigments were actually based on the 2009 chemical analysis of the manuscript, since that identifying the pigments were a whole aspect of it! Since the analysis also identified gum arabic as the binder, then we followed recipes and instructions we were able to locate! This You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. on making medieval paints was INCREDIBLY helpful with getting the ratios!

2.  Yes, devastingly the ratios are different. Finding any actual good in ratio images was a nightmare so we ended up having the guesstimate. ? Any future work with this (ie, other quires), we're wanting to get as close as measurements as possible! (Hopefully with the help of seeing the real thing!)

3. Having to rely only on photos was a NIGHTMARE, since a lot of photos don't capture things like colors, shine, or shades properly. There's a lot of difficulty making out tiny critical details, hence the want to pretty please the Beniecke into allowing us to see the real thing! One smaller surprise thing was getting parchment to fold and fold WELL was way more difficult then you'd think