12-11-2025, 04:23 AM
Both in the "Voynich faked it" thread and the "Voynich MS book swap" thread, statements or assumptions are made about Voynich's character - his reliability and his truthfulness. Both theories rely heavily on the assumption that Voynich should not be trusted at all, which may be a bit harsh.
Now here, I don't want to go into the aspects of how his character affects these two theories. There are already threads about that, and such aspects can be continued there. If this diverges into these directions, it can be closed. What I want to do here is look both at the evidence we have for Voynich's character, and the high level of subjectivity in this entire topic.
This quote is a good starting point:
Now there is a bit of "all booksellers are liars, said a bookseller" in this.
This is not trying to be smart, but shows how easy it is, on such a subjective topic, to trust the things one wants to believe, and to distrust what one does not want to believe.
This is so easy, that it may not even be done consciously.
To be very specific:
should we doubt that Voynich discovered a faded signature on the first folio of the MS?
yet at the same time:
take literally that he exchanged valuable old books for a cartload of modern trash?
(Sounds like bragging to me).
Should we trust Orioli?
Voynich was not Jewish, not near his sixties (he was 47 in 1912) and he was described by others quite differently from a bent creature.
Here is my attempt at a biography of Voynich: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
which suffers in some areas from the same unreliability of evidence.
The best description of Voynich's person is the quoted chapter by E.Millicent Sowerby, which I can thoroughly recommend. It brings him to life.
One has to recognise when she repeats exaggerated stories by Voynich of his earlier life though.
She takes very strong issue with Orioli's description of Voynich, and quotes how Voynich's wife descibed him as having the head and shoulders of a 'Norwegian god'.
I also quote a statement from one of Voynich's Polish friends, found by Rafal Prinke:
"He [Wojnicz] had exuberant phantasy and took its results for reality, in which he solemnly believed. Later he became [...] a very practical antiquarian books dealer and made a considerable fortune, which he was always happy to share with anyone. And so in that man lived in agreement incredible phantasy (others call it lies), truly American pragmatism and good heart"
There is also a published obituary by James Westfall Thompson, which is entirely laudatory and we should not consider useful.
PS: minor details in the biography are not up to date anymore, e.g. I also have a copy of Orioli now.
I would appreciate hearing about additional references if known.
Now here, I don't want to go into the aspects of how his character affects these two theories. There are already threads about that, and such aspects can be continued there. If this diverges into these directions, it can be closed. What I want to do here is look both at the evidence we have for Voynich's character, and the high level of subjectivity in this entire topic.
This quote is a good starting point:
(11-11-2025, 06:17 PM)proto57 Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.[...] the description of Voynich, by G. Orioli, to Antonio. [...] Of course Orioli got Voynich's religion incorrect, and also, it sounds somewhat bigoted on his part... but here it is:
"As to Voynich--he was a Polish Jew, a bent kind of creature and getting
on for sixty. I liked his shop in Shaftesbury Avenue; it was full of books
and well kept, and Voynich himself was most obliging to me. He gave me one
of his excellent catalogues to study, begging me to note the prices: 'Always
keep the price as high as possible, if you ever have a book to sell,' he
added. Then in a squeaky voice and in an accent which I even then recognized
as not being English he told me that he had bought a bookshop in Florence
called the 'Libreria Franceschini.'"
"'I know that shop,' I said."
"'Well, it is full of incunabula. Absolutely crammed with incunabula.'"
"'Surely a bookshop ought to be full of books?'"
"He laughed heartily at my ignorance, explained what incunabula were, and
went on in his enthusiastic fashion:"
"'Millions of books, shelves and shelves of the greatest rarities in the
world. What I have discovered in Italy is altogether unbelievable! Just
listen to this. I once went to a convent and the monks showed me their
library. It was a mine of early printed books and codexes and illuminated
manuscripts. I nearly fainted--I assure you I nearly fainted on the spot.
But I managed to keep my head all the same, and told the monks they could
have a most interesting and valuable collection of modern theological works
to replace that dusty rubbish. I succeeded in persuading the Father
Superior, and in a month that whole library was in my hands, and I sent them
a cartload of modern trash in exchange. Now take my advice: drop your
present job and become a bookseller.'"
Now there is a bit of "all booksellers are liars, said a bookseller" in this.
This is not trying to be smart, but shows how easy it is, on such a subjective topic, to trust the things one wants to believe, and to distrust what one does not want to believe.
This is so easy, that it may not even be done consciously.
To be very specific:
should we doubt that Voynich discovered a faded signature on the first folio of the MS?
yet at the same time:
take literally that he exchanged valuable old books for a cartload of modern trash?
(Sounds like bragging to me).
Should we trust Orioli?
Voynich was not Jewish, not near his sixties (he was 47 in 1912) and he was described by others quite differently from a bent creature.
Here is my attempt at a biography of Voynich: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
which suffers in some areas from the same unreliability of evidence.
The best description of Voynich's person is the quoted chapter by E.Millicent Sowerby, which I can thoroughly recommend. It brings him to life.
One has to recognise when she repeats exaggerated stories by Voynich of his earlier life though.
She takes very strong issue with Orioli's description of Voynich, and quotes how Voynich's wife descibed him as having the head and shoulders of a 'Norwegian god'.
I also quote a statement from one of Voynich's Polish friends, found by Rafal Prinke:
"He [Wojnicz] had exuberant phantasy and took its results for reality, in which he solemnly believed. Later he became [...] a very practical antiquarian books dealer and made a considerable fortune, which he was always happy to share with anyone. And so in that man lived in agreement incredible phantasy (others call it lies), truly American pragmatism and good heart"
There is also a published obituary by James Westfall Thompson, which is entirely laudatory and we should not consider useful.
PS: minor details in the biography are not up to date anymore, e.g. I also have a copy of Orioli now.
I would appreciate hearing about additional references if known.
