27-07-2026, 09:20 PM
The formatting of the text is quite simple for the era. I am not interested here in the text analysis but in the way it is presented on the page.
If we look at standard manuscripts or incunabula (usually agreed to be visually the same as their hand written equivalents) from, say, 1450 - 1500 we see text written in blocks, not paragraphs.
Many manuscripts will have clear paragraph markers -pilcrows-, usually distinguishable by a different colour or size, to break up information units, rather than the modern usage of using a line break, as I am doing in this post. You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view..
The Voynich, from the very first page, uses the line break format accompanied by a pilcrow.
![[Image: image.jpg?ref=f1r&q=f1r-256-202-1027-123...&caption=1]](https://www.voynich.ninja/extractor/image.jpg?ref=f1r&q=f1r-256-202-1027-1232&w=1027&h=1232&resize=0.5&output=jpg&padding=0&border=0&paddingColor=white&borderColor=black&caption=1)
This habit is clear throughout the manuscript and all scribes follow the same layout instruction
![[Image: image.jpg?ref=f43v&q=f43v-417-164-982-60...&caption=1]](https://www.voynich.ninja/extractor/image.jpg?ref=f43v&q=f43v-417-164-982-608&w=982&h=608&resize=0.5&output=jpg&padding=0&border=0&paddingColor=white&borderColor=black&caption=1)
It is striking that the same layout instructions were applied by all scribes across all sections of the manuscript. A template, even if only verbal instructions, was given for layout and this was applied across the manuscript. The same layout was used for page after page, this indicates a conscience decision and even a group instruction issued if indeed multiple scribes were used
![[Image: image.jpg?ref=f115r&q=f115r-101-66-1181-...&caption=1]](https://www.voynich.ninja/extractor/image.jpg?ref=f115r&q=f115r-101-66-1181-949&w=1181&h=949&resize=1&output=jpg&resize=0.5&padding=0&border=0&paddingColor=white&borderColor=black&caption=1)
How did paragraphs work?
Medieval scribes were extremely reluctant to waste expensive parchment, so paragraph identification was almost always redundant. They combined several cues:
A new line by itself was generally considered "too subtle" unless for the reason of Colometry.
The Voynich often signals a paragraph by:
Notably, it does not employ coloured initials or rubricated pilcrows, which were among the commonest medieval paragraph markers and which would have been instantly identifiable to any medieval reader. That makes its paragraphing visually simpler than many contemporary manuscripts while still conforming to the broader medieval practice of marking new textual units through line breaks and paragraph-initial emphasis.
What am I getting at?
If we discard the idea that the Voynich was designed to be read aloud - clearly most of it was not - then what influence caused the authors to choose and stay with this particular layout throughout the whole of the book?
I think the closest structural comparators are not illuminated or library books but plain working manuscripts—medical recipe books, university notebooks, and practical handbooks copied between about 1400 and 1450. We often see new-line paragraphing with minimal decoration and no attempt at justification.
What style could the scribes have been influenced by?
These genres routinely consist of dozens or hundreds of short, self-contained entries beginning on a new line, and they are among the closest surviving medieval layouts to the Voynich's "recipe" section. We also see many clues to the Voynich being influenced by these working books, for example, many years ago we chased down examples of the Zodiac being influenced by the German hausbach calendar tradition, especially the crossbowman. This forum contains many examples.
In short, the layout and visual clues in the Voynich points to the authors being influenced more by working books than by library books.
However, in many ways the Voynich has a much higher "production value" than these working books. It is much longer than most working books, many of which would have been produced by just one scribe.
The images are of a higher quality. The layout of the text is much clearer and more professional. There appear to have been a team of production scribes working on the book. The quality of the parchment is higher and there is no real attempt to maximise the use of the parchment real estate. Multiple colour inks are used with care and attention to detail.
We are, once again, faced with a paradox. The Voynich layout and style is influenced by working books; its use of materials and multiple scribes suggests high end resources were available for its production.
If we look at standard manuscripts or incunabula (usually agreed to be visually the same as their hand written equivalents) from, say, 1450 - 1500 we see text written in blocks, not paragraphs.
Many manuscripts will have clear paragraph markers -pilcrows-, usually distinguishable by a different colour or size, to break up information units, rather than the modern usage of using a line break, as I am doing in this post. You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view..
The Voynich, from the very first page, uses the line break format accompanied by a pilcrow.
This habit is clear throughout the manuscript and all scribes follow the same layout instruction
It is striking that the same layout instructions were applied by all scribes across all sections of the manuscript. A template, even if only verbal instructions, was given for layout and this was applied across the manuscript. The same layout was used for page after page, this indicates a conscience decision and even a group instruction issued if indeed multiple scribes were used
How did paragraphs work?
Quote:But while distinction of words was disregarded in early literary texts, distinction of important pauses in the sense was recognized from the first. The papyrus of the Persae of Timotheus of Miletus, the oldest MS. of a Greek classic in existence, of the end of the 4th century B.C., is written in independent paragraphs. This is a natural system, the simplicity of which has caused it to be the system of modern times. But, in addition, the Greek scribe also separated paragraphs by inserting a short horizontal stroke, παράγραφος, between them at the commencement of the lines of writing. It should be noted that this stroke indicated the close of a passage, and therefore belonged to the paragraph just concluded, and did not stand for an initial sign for the new paragraph which followed. The dividing stroke was also used to mark off the different speeches of a play. Besides the stroke, a wedge-shaped sign or tick might be used. But to make every paragraph stand distinctly by itself would have entailed a certain loss of space. If the concluding line were short, there would remain a long space unfilled. Therefore, when this occurred, it became customary to leave only a short space blank to mark the termination of the paragraph, and then to proceed with the new paragraph in the same line, the παράγραφος at the same time preventing possible ambiguity. The next step was to project the first letter of the first full line of the new paragraph slightly into the margin, as a still further distinction; and lastly to enlarge it. The enlargement of the letter gave it so much prominence that the dividing stroke could then be dispensed with, and in this form the new paragraph was henceforward indicated in Greek MSS., it being immaterial whether the enlarged letter was the initial or a medial letter of a word. As early as the 5th century there is evidence that the παράγραφος was losing its meaning with the scribes, for in the Codex Alexandrinus of the Bible it is not infrequently found in anomalous positions, particularly above the initial letters of different books, as if it were a mere ornament.
Encyclopedia Britannica - Manuscript entry
Quote:The paragraph mark, enlarged initial, and disposition of text on the page formed part of an integrated system for indicating textual articulation. Medieval scribes indicated divisions in a text by combining graphic devices such as enlarged initials, paragraph signs, and the arrangement of lines on the page. These visual cues enabled readers to recognise the structure of the text without relying solely on punctuation. Malcolm B. Parkes — Pause and Effect p.65
Quote:Colometry. A modification of the practice of writing the text continuously was allowed in the case of certain works. Rhetorical texts, such as the orations of Demosthenes and Cicero, and the text of the Bible, might be broken up into short clauses or sense-lines, apparently with the view of assisting reading aloud. Instances of MSS. so written are still extant. This system, to which the name of “colometry” has been given, is the arrangement by cola and commata referred to by St Jerome in his preface to Isaiah. It will be found more fully explained under the heading of Stichometry; where also is described the mechanical computation of the length of a text by measured lines, for the purpose or calculating the pay of the scribe. Encyclopedia Britannica - Manuscript entry
Medieval scribes were extremely reluctant to waste expensive parchment, so paragraph identification was almost always redundant. They combined several cues:
- new line,
- enlarged initial,
- rubrication,
- paragraph mark,
- marginal projection.
A new line by itself was generally considered "too subtle" unless for the reason of Colometry.
The Voynich often signals a paragraph by:
- beginning on a fresh line,
- using an enlarged "gallows" glyph,
- leaving a visibly short final line in the previous paragraph without bothering about justification or waste of parchment.
Notably, it does not employ coloured initials or rubricated pilcrows, which were among the commonest medieval paragraph markers and which would have been instantly identifiable to any medieval reader. That makes its paragraphing visually simpler than many contemporary manuscripts while still conforming to the broader medieval practice of marking new textual units through line breaks and paragraph-initial emphasis.
What am I getting at?
If we discard the idea that the Voynich was designed to be read aloud - clearly most of it was not - then what influence caused the authors to choose and stay with this particular layout throughout the whole of the book?
I think the closest structural comparators are not illuminated or library books but plain working manuscripts—medical recipe books, university notebooks, and practical handbooks copied between about 1400 and 1450. We often see new-line paragraphing with minimal decoration and no attempt at justification.
What style could the scribes have been influenced by?
- Medical recipe books (Receptaria)
- Astrological almanacs with prognostications
- Practical herbals – especially those copied by working physicians rather than produced as luxury manuscripts
These genres routinely consist of dozens or hundreds of short, self-contained entries beginning on a new line, and they are among the closest surviving medieval layouts to the Voynich's "recipe" section. We also see many clues to the Voynich being influenced by these working books, for example, many years ago we chased down examples of the Zodiac being influenced by the German hausbach calendar tradition, especially the crossbowman. This forum contains many examples.
In short, the layout and visual clues in the Voynich points to the authors being influenced more by working books than by library books.
However, in many ways the Voynich has a much higher "production value" than these working books. It is much longer than most working books, many of which would have been produced by just one scribe.
The images are of a higher quality. The layout of the text is much clearer and more professional. There appear to have been a team of production scribes working on the book. The quality of the parchment is higher and there is no real attempt to maximise the use of the parchment real estate. Multiple colour inks are used with care and attention to detail.
We are, once again, faced with a paradox. The Voynich layout and style is influenced by working books; its use of materials and multiple scribes suggests high end resources were available for its production.
