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+--- Thread: Voynich In Person (/thread-6137.html)
Voynich In Person - medievalmaxxer - 30-09-2026
Theoretical question: If you ever had the chance to see the Voynich in person, what's one thing you would look for/prioritize that's harder to see digitally/would only come across in person?
RE: Voynich In Person - nablator - 30-09-2026
(30-09-2026, 05:18 PM)medievalmaxxer wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Theoretical question: If you ever had the chance to see the Voynich in person, what's one thing you would look for/prioritize that's harder to see digitally/would only come across in person?
Seeing You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. lit from the other side could end the speculations about the blue liquid. You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
Other pages with opaque paint could be investigated too.
RE: Voynich In Person - Dana Scott - 30-09-2026
I would record all the hidden text (eg. between folio gutters/folds) not fully visible on the digital copies.
Regards,
Dana Scott
RE: Voynich In Person - RadioFM - 01-10-2026
The recipe section fold with the barely visible reptile/thing and the green T-O semicircle, though to be honest more multispectral photos would prove way more useful imo
RE: Voynich In Person - Koen G - 01-10-2026
I agree, multispectral images of the whole MS is what we should be hoping for. What can be seen with the naked eye is extremely limited. Also, one wouldn't be allowed to be backlighting pages and all that. And access is extremely limited as well, which is certainly for the best.
RE: Voynich In Person - Oscroft - 01-10-2026
(01-10-2026, 07:03 AM)Koen G wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.I agree, multispectral images of the whole MS is what we should be hoping for. What can be seen with the naked eye is extremely limited. Also, one wouldn't be allowed to be backlighting pages and all that. And access is extremely limited as well, which is certainly for the best.
100%, yes. While I'm sure we'd all love to see the results of the best modern technology probing and analysing every part of the manuscript, preservation has to be the overriding priority.
If I were given the chance to see it in person? I'd decline, because what I could gain from seeing it wouldn't be worth the exposure - I'd opt for leaving it undisturbed.
RE: Voynich In Person - Jorge_Stolfi - 01-10-2026
(30-09-2026, 05:18 PM)medievalmaxxer wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Theoretical question: If you ever had the chance to see the Voynich in person, what's one thing you would look for/prioritize that's harder to see digitally/would only come across in person?
I would compile beforehand a list of pages and spots which we most need to examine with higher resolution. Then take photos of those spots with a hand-held microscope. Something like a 5x5 mm field with 1000x1000 pixels, or about 200 pixels/mm (~5000 dpi). Hopefully the Beinecke librarians can agree to that.
That would let us answer many standing questions about handwriting, nature of ink, retracing, date of painting, marginal writing, etc.
Such a microscope could be modified to take also N images of each spot in the same click, with different narrow-band lighting. Just 3-4 images in chosen bands would suffice (like 2 UV and 2 IR). That would help -- but not as much as the higher resolution.
All the best, --stolfi