(28-08-2026, 09:33 AM)JustAnotherTheory Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Thanks @proto57, I spent the past few hours reading your blog, it is very interesting. The parallels with the early microscopes are striking. I searched for other examples of tripod microscopes and "bulby" microscopes from the 19th century, and indeed I found several more in contemporary microscope journals that closely ressemble the containers in the VMS. I will post the results in another thread, in the "Imagery" section of the forum, when I'm ready.
Ironically, back when I still thought the VMs was an early 17th century work, critics of my theory pointed out that the microscopes (and opera glasses and telescopes) I was making comparisons to, were all "too new" for my time frame. The point they were making was that they could not be microscopes, it must be a coincidence that so many features were shared by the devices and the cylinders.
Nick Pelling, in fact, took a deep dive into the history of the microscope, exactly because he thought the comparisons seemed to have merit. But when he realized they would have to be "too new", he gave them up again.
Me, on the other hand, feeling they are so strikingly similar, I wasn't ready to give them up as the best comparison... and this caused me to shift my timeline "newer", and then, eventually, to about 1908-1910, where I have been for at least a decade or more. For those unfamiliar, the features I am referring to are: Recessed tops (like lenses), light blue and green "glass" (like early lenses), parallel sides with multiple diameters (as microscopes have sliding sections, for focusing), (possibly) knurled rings (used on microscopes for "grip" to turn and slide the sections), legs on some (to raise the device's objective lens above the specimen), "delphini" shape of those legs (a motif used on 17th and 18th century microscopes), patterns of decoration (like tooling), and colors, similar to the Moroccan leather coverings of many early microscopes, and more. The You are not allowed to view links.
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Login to view. (which was on display 1/4 mile from Voynich's Libreria) even has the same coloring:
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Here are two Spanish "opera glasses" next to two VMs cylinders:
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Of course there are a great many more, in addition to the "curious" fact that many, even long before we were born, who thought that many of the objects in the Voynich strongly resembled microscopic specimens, such as plant and animal cells, diatoms, and more. The even more curious thing about this is that the best comparisons of microscopic plants and animals and features appear almost entirely in You are not allowed to view links.
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Login to view.: The Microscope, Jabez Hogg, 1869; Nature Through Microscope & Camera, Kerr, 1909; The Microscope And Its Revelations, William B. Carpenter, 1856-1901. So I could go on, but of course anyone interested can also peruse my blog and see a great man of these points illustrated and explained, as you have.
But I'll leave this with one odd thing, which is I think reflective of the strong sense that many of these cylinders are "optically inspired": Several years ago, the publisher of the most excellent Voynich Replica, had a display set up to advertise their amazing work. Because of these comparisons, they actually had a display of early microscopes! (photo by Rene Zandbergen):
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So I think that this is a nagging problem for many, this strong comparison, for while one may strongly believe the Voynich "must" be 15th century today, the striking comparisons to far more modern optical devices is really hard to dismiss.
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