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+--- Thread: On the character of Wilfrid Voynich (/thread-5041.html)
On the character of Wilfrid Voynich - ReneZ - 12-11-2025
Both in the "Voynich faked it" thread and the "Voynich MS book swap" thread, statements or assumptions are made about Voynich's character - his reliability and his truthfulness. Both theories rely heavily on the assumption that Voynich should not be trusted at all, which may be a bit harsh.
Now here, I don't want to go into the aspects of how his character affects these two theories. There are already threads about that, and such aspects can be continued there. If this diverges into these directions, it can be closed. What I want to do here is look both at the evidence we have for Voynich's character, and the high level of subjectivity in this entire topic.
This quote is a good starting point:
(11-11-2025, 06:17 PM)proto57 Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.[...] the description of Voynich, by G. Orioli, to Antonio. [...] Of course Orioli got Voynich's religion incorrect, and also, it sounds somewhat bigoted on his part... but here it is:
"As to Voynich--he was a Polish Jew, a bent kind of creature and getting
on for sixty. I liked his shop in Shaftesbury Avenue; it was full of books
and well kept, and Voynich himself was most obliging to me. He gave me one
of his excellent catalogues to study, begging me to note the prices: 'Always
keep the price as high as possible, if you ever have a book to sell,' he
added. Then in a squeaky voice and in an accent which I even then recognized
as not being English he told me that he had bought a bookshop in Florence
called the 'Libreria Franceschini.'"
"'I know that shop,' I said."
"'Well, it is full of incunabula. Absolutely crammed with incunabula.'"
"'Surely a bookshop ought to be full of books?'"
"He laughed heartily at my ignorance, explained what incunabula were, and
went on in his enthusiastic fashion:"
"'Millions of books, shelves and shelves of the greatest rarities in the
world. What I have discovered in Italy is altogether unbelievable! Just
listen to this. I once went to a convent and the monks showed me their
library. It was a mine of early printed books and codexes and illuminated
manuscripts. I nearly fainted--I assure you I nearly fainted on the spot.
But I managed to keep my head all the same, and told the monks they could
have a most interesting and valuable collection of modern theological works
to replace that dusty rubbish. I succeeded in persuading the Father
Superior, and in a month that whole library was in my hands, and I sent them
a cartload of modern trash in exchange. Now take my advice: drop your
present job and become a bookseller.'"
Now there is a bit of "all booksellers are liars, said a bookseller" in this.
This is not trying to be smart, but shows how easy it is, on such a subjective topic, to trust the things one wants to believe, and to distrust what one does not want to believe.
This is so easy, that it may not even be done consciously.
To be very specific:
should we doubt that Voynich discovered a faded signature on the first folio of the MS?
yet at the same time:
take literally that he exchanged valuable old books for a cartload of modern trash?
(Sounds like bragging to me).
Should we trust Orioli?
Voynich was not Jewish, not near his sixties (he was 47 in 1912) and he was described by others quite differently from a bent creature.
Here is my attempt at a biography of Voynich: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
which suffers in some areas from the same unreliability of evidence.
The best description of Voynich's person is the quoted chapter by E.Millicent Sowerby, which I can thoroughly recommend. It brings him to life.
One has to recognise when she repeats exaggerated stories by Voynich of his earlier life though.
She takes very strong issue with Orioli's description of Voynich, and quotes how Voynich's wife descibed him as having the head and shoulders of a 'Norwegian god'.
I also quote a statement from one of Voynich's Polish friends, found by Rafal Prinke:
"He [Wojnicz] had exuberant phantasy and took its results for reality, in which he solemnly believed. Later he became [...] a very practical antiquarian books dealer and made a considerable fortune, which he was always happy to share with anyone. And so in that man lived in agreement incredible phantasy (others call it lies), truly American pragmatism and good heart"
There is also a published obituary by James Westfall Thompson, which is entirely laudatory and we should not consider useful.
PS: minor details in the biography are not up to date anymore, e.g. I also have a copy of Orioli now.
I would appreciate hearing about additional references if known.
RE: On the character of Wilfrid Voynich - Aga Tentakulus - 12-11-2025
As I read in his biography, Voynich had a disability in his right arm, which he sustained while in prison (I believe).
So I wonder whether he was even capable of carrying out such work.
RE: On the character of Wilfrid Voynich - Jorge_Stolfi - 12-11-2025
(12-11-2025, 10:45 AM)Aga Tentakulus Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.So I wonder whether he was even capable of carrying out such work.
IF he had decided to sell a forged Bacon original, he would of course have contracted the work to a professional forger. Or maybe used some recently forged piece that he had found among other books that he acquired.
(But now I wonder -- was WIlfrid left-handed?)
All the best, --stolfi
RE: On the character of Wilfrid Voynich - nablator - 12-11-2025
(12-11-2025, 10:45 AM)Aga Tentakulus Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.As I read in his biography, Voynich had a disability in his right arm
Where does this come from?
RE: On the character of Wilfrid Voynich - Aga Tentakulus - 12-11-2025
Unfortunately, I can't tell you where I got that from. It was in a report about Voynich.
‘As a result of the harsh prison conditions, he was left with a crooked shoulder and a general weakening of his constitution,’
according to the German WIKI. But that wasn't it.
It was a Russian report.
RE: On the character of Wilfrid Voynich - Jorge_Stolfi - 12-11-2025
(12-11-2025, 04:23 AM)ReneZ Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.take literally that he exchanged valuable old books for a cartload of modern trash?
We don't need to rely on that statement only. He did that all the time, didn't he? Even with the Jesuits. Offer a very small price for books that he hoped to sell for many thousands of dollars. Always for a lot of books at the same time, since if he offered to buy just one book the owner would get suspicious...
By the way, I now wonder -- is there record that the whole money from the sale of those Jesuit books ever reached the coffer of the Church, or whatever institution owned them?
If the purpose of his lies was to hide the source of the books from outsiders, he could have just said "sorry but I cannot tell where I got these books from". But then maybe some librarian or accountant inside the Order might have wondered whether some of their books may have left their shelves improperly, and gone checking.
Who it was who asked them about the VMS, was told "it is still here", then "sorry, my bad, it is no longer here"?
All the best, --stolfi
RE: On the character of Wilfrid Voynich - nablator - 12-11-2025
(12-11-2025, 11:28 AM)Jorge_Stolfi Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.(But now I wonder -- was WIlfrid left-handed?)
Probably not:
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RE: On the character of Wilfrid Voynich - Jorge_Stolfi - 12-11-2025
(12-11-2025, 01:19 PM)nablator Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Probably not:
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Hmmm... let me check... yes, the shape of the paragraph on the big book is evidence that the photo was not mirrored left-to-right. I would even call that "good evidence".
All the best, --stolfi
RE: On the character of Wilfrid Voynich - nablator - 12-11-2025
(12-11-2025, 01:29 PM)Jorge_Stolfi Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Hmmm... let me check... yes, the shape of the paragraph on the big book is evidence that the photo was not mirrored left-to-right. I would even call that "good evidence".
Much better evidence: look at the clothes.
RE: On the character of Wilfrid Voynich - Aga Tentakulus - 12-11-2025
You're thinking about the jacket. Right over left.
Ladies, left over right. That closes the jacket.