[Book] "The Voynich Manuscript" (Watkins reproduction)

[-JKP-]

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Additionally, and perhaps most interestingly, an e-mail sent out from the publisher reveals that it also contins "a fascinating new theory about the identity of the author. Based on careful study of the images depicted, the plants portrayed, and the lack of any Christian imagery, the authors conclude that it was a Jewish person residing in Italy who must have written the manuscript."

I don't think one can conclude from the lack of Christian imagery that it was a Jew.

The lack of Christian imagery in the VMS is singular for a manuscript of this style and time period, as is the lack of imagery related to warfare, but the creator could be a Jew, a shamanist (e.g., Cuman), an Arian, a Pagan, a Neopagan (a not-very-good name for some of the old Norse beliefs), a Moslem (less likely, but one shouldn't discount the possibility), an adherent of an Egyptian-African-pagan religion still practiced by the Berbers in the middle ages, or an atheist.


I think it's entirely possible it was created by a Jew for the simple reason that there were quite a few Jewish translators, scribes and illustrators, but Jewish imagery is every bit as sparse in the VMS as is Christian imagery, so the logic alluded to by the publisher of this book is questionable.


I prefer to keep an open mind and not assume anything about the religion of the creator unless it's based on clues within the manuscript itself and I'm skeptical that the plants, as mentioned in the publisher's note, point to a Jewish origin.