20-01-2026, 08:46 PM
20-01-2026, 09:00 PM
Thanks Doireannjane.
20-01-2026, 09:11 PM
Hi Doireannjane. Sorry I did not see your first reply with that link. I will take a look. Thanks.
20-01-2026, 09:42 PM
For sure! Let me know if there is any question on plants, or anything else in the text itself. I’m happy to teach/instruct. I do not seek or need validation from this forum.
20-01-2026, 10:31 PM
The elephant in the room would like to know: Supposing a plant list is compiled, as others have done in the past. What good is the list? Does it help to interpret the text in some way? So far, the answer is no. Self-validations excepted.
20-01-2026, 11:23 PM
For my part, I like Ethel Voynich' research for the historical value. She's the earliest researcher of the manuscript that left us a systematic study. I enjoyed transcribing her notes, whether I agreed with them or not.
I honestly don't think many of the VM plants images allow us to identify the species, but it's still interesting to see what people made of them before even the internet was available.
I honestly don't think many of the VM plants images allow us to identify the species, but it's still interesting to see what people made of them before even the internet was available.
20-01-2026, 11:25 PM
@ Doireannjane, thanks for the offer. I will need more time to go over the material you have already linked, so perhaps in a few days I will get back to you. The same for the information others kindly provided about the plants, since I don't want to rush things.
The question I had asked you was regarding that vertical column formatting, and it seems it is not anything unique to her books, though she may have used them uniquely for her purpose. I am seeing that they used the vertical column letters somewhat like a table of contents in medieval books, but need to study it more. See images below. If you have any further thoughts on that specific question, yes, I'd be interested to know, but no rush, but so far I am finding it is not anything unique to the book you had shown on that YouTube clip.
@ R. Sale, that is a good question, and I will try to provide some answer later. However, if your "Self-validations excepted" rule should apply, it should also apply to your post itself, no? You seem to be asking the question already assuming you are validated in what you think my answer would be! I did not even answer, and you assumed the answer is no! So, yes, that is part of the elephant too, or at least what does not help us seeing it, since we already think we know and are validated for it.
[attachment=13594][attachment=13595]
The question I had asked you was regarding that vertical column formatting, and it seems it is not anything unique to her books, though she may have used them uniquely for her purpose. I am seeing that they used the vertical column letters somewhat like a table of contents in medieval books, but need to study it more. See images below. If you have any further thoughts on that specific question, yes, I'd be interested to know, but no rush, but so far I am finding it is not anything unique to the book you had shown on that YouTube clip.
@ R. Sale, that is a good question, and I will try to provide some answer later. However, if your "Self-validations excepted" rule should apply, it should also apply to your post itself, no? You seem to be asking the question already assuming you are validated in what you think my answer would be! I did not even answer, and you assumed the answer is no! So, yes, that is part of the elephant too, or at least what does not help us seeing it, since we already think we know and are validated for it.
[attachment=13594][attachment=13595]
20-01-2026, 11:38 PM
Regarding the vertical columns in your examples above, those are there because the genre is poetry, as nablator said elsewhere. You can see the verse layout and the rhyme.
20-01-2026, 11:42 PM
(20-01-2026, 11:25 PM)MHTamdgidi_(Behrooz) Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.The question I had asked you was regarding that vertical column formatting, and it seems it is not anything unique to her books, though she may have used them uniquely for her purpose.
It's an extremely common medieval style for any text in verse. See this thread: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
20-01-2026, 11:56 PM
When I see any vertical writing, I can’t help but immediately thinking of Ogham, as it was written vertically originally by nature (pun intended). I write about this in greater detail when translating both vertical lines on 66r in the VMS. Let me know if you like to see how those lines in the manuscript read using my lexicon and approach, this can also be found on my GitHub. Both lines/readings relate to my understanding of the Hagfish in the manuscript and the idea of knowledge/webbing/woven fabric.