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Voynich’s Viennese Agency - voynichbombe - 03-11-2017
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I was wondering if a more accurate dating for Voynich’s catalogue #31 would be possible.
R. Prinke on the VMS ML archive names a rather rough timeframe of 1903-1915. X. Ceccaldi on the same list says “after 1915”. Anthony (surname avoided) states “after 1911”, etc.
Of course this probably more has to do with the “spy” activities of the Voynichs, which stopped sometimes before or during WWI.
But what would an agency do for the Voynichs? It sounds like a headquarter but maybe not like a stash of bookes at display.
It seems peculiar that the word “agency” is printed in italics on the catalogue cover, yet the address is reproduced slightly wrong: Correct would be “Peter-Jordan-Straße” instead of “Gasse”. It was named like this by the senate in 1904. Also, the house n° 27 happens to be in the 19th district, as the street now spans two districts, but it was built to this length only after 1909.
A.S. Levetus must be Amelia Sarah Levetus, a very interesting figure. She was an art historian and one of the first women to lecture on economics at the viennese university, etc. Essentially, what she did in house °27 was to run a language school, “She owned and taught at an English language school where she also organised a conversation club, the John Ruskin Club, which boasted a diverse programme of events and guest lectures on British history, culture and politics and offered trips to the UK”.
If you are interested, let’s try and add some pieces to the puzzle.
RE: Voynich’s Viennese Agency - ReneZ - 03-11-2017
Most of Voynich's catalogues are not dated, so it is difficult.
There is at least one copy of #31 for sale, but this also does not give a date:
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In JVS the date is listed as 1913 but I don't know the source for that.
(One may search in there for more information on this topic.)
The year 1913 largely fits with other dates.
Lists 1-9 are 1898 - 1902. List 24 is 1908.
Lists 27-34 seem to be related.
On Levetus: several people with that family name appear in his surroundings.
I don't know if they are related.
Sowerby mentions a 'miss Levetus' working in his shop in the 1912-1914 time frame, but this is not Amelia Sarah.
There's either a banker or insurance broker called Levetus mentioned in later correspondence between Anne Nill and Herbert Garland.
More could be found out about all of them, I am sure.
Voynich was in Vienna a couple of times before the start of WW I.
There's a highly mysterious note written to him with a Vienna hotel letterhead. I'll post it here later today or tomorrow.
RE: Voynich’s Viennese Agency - ReneZ - 04-11-2017
So here's the story about the strange letter.
It is preserved among the papers at the Beinecke library.
It dates from November 1912, so certainly after Voynich acquired the Jesuit collection.
It is written on a piece of paper with the letterhead of the hotel Bristol in Vienna. What the name would not immediately betray is that this is one of the top-rate hotels in Vienna.
The suggestion is very strong that both Voynich and the author of the note were staying in this hotel.
I already contacted the hotel, to find out if guest books or other records have been preserved and I finally got feedback from someone who is a hotel historian in Vienna.
It seems that they have records only of very important guests in the hotel, which included kings and presidents, i.e. way above the level of Voynich.
(I had these exchanges during the time I strongly believed that the collection of Jesuit books had been hidden in Vienna).
So here's the transcription, combined from inputs of Colin MacKinnon and myself:
Quote:Oct. 29th, 1912.
Dear Mr. de Voynich,
Many thanks for your kind note:
the Man to which you refer comes from a
quite unimpeachable source but, of course,
there is little likelihood of the powers
accepting it. But it is interesting
as showing the way men's thoughts run.
I looked for you at lunch today but
did not see you --- I see in the
papers that Msrs . S[ ]ski Shapinski
have been speaking on (?) Lemberg.
With kind regards,
Yours faithfully,
Geo (??) Williams (?)
We believe that "Man" is an abbreviation for "Manuscript", but this is not the Voynich MS.
Lemberg is another name of the city Lviv, and ELV had some connection with it, but that may be coincidental. Who knows...
The picture is attached, with the kind permission of the Beinecke library.
RE: Voynich’s Viennese Agency - -JKP- - 04-11-2017
Signatures are rarely easy to read, and often letters are left out, but it does look like the first name might be George (Gregor/Gregory is also possible), but the surname might be something like Ulbauer, or Nibauer or something-bauer or -baier or -baum
Hard to tell though because the stem hits the "a" at the bottom rather than the top, so Williams is probably as good a reading as any.
It does sound rather secretive in the way it is worded. I wonder if some of Voynich's finds were going to the "underground" in terms of buyers/collectors who don't want anyone to know what they do or don't have in their collections.
RE: Voynich’s Viennese Agency - Helmut Winkler - 04-11-2017
I would read Stapinski instead od Shapinski, Jan Stapinski was member of the Austrian Abgeordnetenhaus for Lemberg/Galizien and a news paper editor in Lemberg
RE: Voynich’s Viennese Agency - Searcher - 04-11-2017
I can only suppose that the first part of the doubled surname (S***ski Shapinski) must be "Sliwiski" or "Sliwinski".
RE: Voynich’s Viennese Agency - -JKP- - 04-11-2017
... have been speaking as Lemberg. (maybe this is "as" or "at" Lemberg? Perhaps an alias? a maiden name? or the town of Lemberg) It doesn't look like "on". He puts a loop on his "o".
The signature might be Mülbauer.
Shapinski and Mülbauer (if that's what the signature is) are both Jewish names, and Lemberg a significant historical town in Jewish history. Maybe the careful wording is related to the political climate at the time.
The name preceding Shapinski might be a Hebrew name. There was a Simon Shapinski in the U.S. born around 1870 or so. Perhaps Simon is an anglicized version of a Jewish name.
I had another thought. Maybe it's not a first name. Maybe it's not "Mrs. Slinnski Shapinski", as Slinnski is a surname. Perhaps it says Mssrs Slinnski Shapinski have been speaking at Lemberg (as in both Mr. Slinnski and Mr. Shapinski).. It could also be Slivinski... I've noticed this writer leaves out a lot of loops.
RE: Voynich’s Viennese Agency - Anton - 04-11-2017
He uses characteristic dots which can be used to trace the letter "i". I attach a pic where punctuation marks are shown in yellow, dots of "i" are shown in red. Two blue circles mark dots which I don't know what to make of, especially of the former (the latter may be interpreted as punctuation period after the "G" initial).
I don't think the word is "powers" (does not look like that), but I can't suggest what it is.
It is strange that there is no punctuation mark between the two alleged surnames, neither an "and". This makes this part questionable. But this can be traced through the Austrian papers of the date in question, or the preceding date. They will show at once who was speaking on Lemberg and what for.
All in all, this does not look to me as having relation to the VMS. Most probably it's about submitting some manuscript to a publishing house or a magazine, or, even most probably, about selling some piece of information (in the form of a manuscript) to some intelligence or security service (since the correspondent raises the issue of the credibility of the source).
RE: Voynich’s Viennese Agency - Anton - 04-11-2017
Here's the "Die Neue Zeitung" archive for 1912, those who read German could have a glance at October 29th or a couple of days before that.
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RE: Voynich’s Viennese Agency - Searcher - 04-11-2017
Duble-barelled surnames is not a widespread, but a quite usual thing in Slavic countries.
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. and Shapinski are Polish surnames.