26-01-2026, 12:08 PM
Hello all, looking through the manuscripts on ecodicesNL I came across a manuscript with more "matches" in writing style than other manuscripts in the collection. I thought I would share them here, as there is a mix of some "VM-style" symbols, but also the usage of the letter styles found in You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. and You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. marginalia.
Manuscript: Deventer, Athenaeumbibliotheek : 111 E 7 KL
Ijssel Region, First half of 15th century
Link to manuscript: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
[attachment=13668]
Usage of ß
Im not sure about how many dutch manuscripts have been found with this writing style and variance of symbols. In 15th century ijssel region, i would think that the native language of the author(s) would be somewhere on the spectrum between middle dutch, lower saxon or german, but i'm not certain. If so, the "so nim" section could plausibly be written by someone from the region.
This manuscript uses ß throughout the text. Was that symbol used in middle dutch, or was it a strictly german letter? Either way, perhaps relevant to You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. marginalia "muß".
"Her" examples
There are many examples of "Her", with varied looping styles. To my untrained eye, most are similar to f17r for the H and E. The R is different. I would be interested to know the meaning of this word within this latin manuscript and the context of its usage. Many of them are captialised, but some are not.
Its noteworthy that many of these capital H's consist of a seperated left side stroke that is almost identical to the L mentioned later in this post. Perhaps the writer on You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. began writing a H one word too early instead of L, noticed their mistake before completing the H and could simply leave it alone with the legible L intact.
Luēz̄ + additional ēz̄ words
The manuscript uses the ēz̄ ending semi-frequently through the text, including a potential luēz̄ match. Here are some examples along with many other words with the same ending; it would be helpful if somebody can tell what the ending represents across different words. If there is a clear usage pattern for the ending, it could shine light on the uncontracted spelling of "luēz̄".
Here is a word seemingly ending "uēz̄", which is the most relevant here.
Here are some other examples, most/all with "coēz̄"
Capital L examples, with diagnonal bottom
It appears that the author writes their capital Ls with a diagonal stroke at the bottom, similar in look to f17r. The L in this potential "luez" example isn't looped, but the author is inconsistent in this, shown in another example where different Ls are used in a single sentence.
Portat/Portas
Usage of different "D" symbols
EVA-like examples
These aren't voynichese words of course, but many words contain letters that have a similar style to EVA "n,r,s,u"
These are by no means an extensive list of examples; they are all throughout the text and the text is rather long. I do have page numbers for each of the images in the document I used to collate them, so if there is a question about one of them let me know and i'll provide the location in the document. Hopefully someone finds it interesting!
Manuscript: Deventer, Athenaeumbibliotheek : 111 E 7 KL
Ijssel Region, First half of 15th century
Link to manuscript: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
[attachment=13668]
Usage of ß
Im not sure about how many dutch manuscripts have been found with this writing style and variance of symbols. In 15th century ijssel region, i would think that the native language of the author(s) would be somewhere on the spectrum between middle dutch, lower saxon or german, but i'm not certain. If so, the "so nim" section could plausibly be written by someone from the region.
This manuscript uses ß throughout the text. Was that symbol used in middle dutch, or was it a strictly german letter? Either way, perhaps relevant to You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. marginalia "muß".
"Her" examples
There are many examples of "Her", with varied looping styles. To my untrained eye, most are similar to f17r for the H and E. The R is different. I would be interested to know the meaning of this word within this latin manuscript and the context of its usage. Many of them are captialised, but some are not.
Its noteworthy that many of these capital H's consist of a seperated left side stroke that is almost identical to the L mentioned later in this post. Perhaps the writer on You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. began writing a H one word too early instead of L, noticed their mistake before completing the H and could simply leave it alone with the legible L intact.
Luēz̄ + additional ēz̄ words
The manuscript uses the ēz̄ ending semi-frequently through the text, including a potential luēz̄ match. Here are some examples along with many other words with the same ending; it would be helpful if somebody can tell what the ending represents across different words. If there is a clear usage pattern for the ending, it could shine light on the uncontracted spelling of "luēz̄".
Here is a word seemingly ending "uēz̄", which is the most relevant here.
Here are some other examples, most/all with "coēz̄"
Capital L examples, with diagnonal bottom
It appears that the author writes their capital Ls with a diagonal stroke at the bottom, similar in look to f17r. The L in this potential "luez" example isn't looped, but the author is inconsistent in this, shown in another example where different Ls are used in a single sentence.
Portat/Portas
Usage of different "D" symbols
EVA-like examples
These aren't voynichese words of course, but many words contain letters that have a similar style to EVA "n,r,s,u"
These are by no means an extensive list of examples; they are all throughout the text and the text is rather long. I do have page numbers for each of the images in the document I used to collate them, so if there is a question about one of them let me know and i'll provide the location in the document. Hopefully someone finds it interesting!