01-03-2016, 03:10 PM
Looking at other illustated herbal MSs has been a bit of an eye-opener for me, regarding the Voynich MS.
I started collecting as many images as I could find, some 5-6 years ago now.
This made it clear that a lot of the things typically said about the Voynich MS herb illustrations are not true.
One is the supposed low quality of the drawings.
Toresella raised interest in the alchemical herbals with his paper, and the fact that many of the herbs in them appear fantastic. However, the Voynich MS drawings are far superior in detail.
Even celebrated herbal MSs have drawings that are far simpler than in the Voynich MS.
They just 'look bad' because of the sloppy painting.
Take that away and you have quite nice outline drawings.
The 'waterlily' is a case in point. Even though they may represent different plants, the one in the Voynich MS is drawn in much more detail than in Egerton 747, Paris BN Lat 6823 and Sloane 4016.
The other striking thing was that many details in the drawings seem to have been "taken from" known herbal MSs.
I firmly believe that the Voynich MS artist (draughtsman) must have seen herbal MSs. One just doesn't come up with such elements in plant drawings by oneself.
The traditional view that remained unchallenged was that the Voynich MS does not copy any series of illustrations from any other known herbal. At least not among the 60 or so I've seen.
The similarity of the ivy-and-oak is not one of a copy - at best an inspiration. And it is a single case so far.
I started collecting as many images as I could find, some 5-6 years ago now.
This made it clear that a lot of the things typically said about the Voynich MS herb illustrations are not true.
One is the supposed low quality of the drawings.
Toresella raised interest in the alchemical herbals with his paper, and the fact that many of the herbs in them appear fantastic. However, the Voynich MS drawings are far superior in detail.
Even celebrated herbal MSs have drawings that are far simpler than in the Voynich MS.
They just 'look bad' because of the sloppy painting.
Take that away and you have quite nice outline drawings.
The 'waterlily' is a case in point. Even though they may represent different plants, the one in the Voynich MS is drawn in much more detail than in Egerton 747, Paris BN Lat 6823 and Sloane 4016.
The other striking thing was that many details in the drawings seem to have been "taken from" known herbal MSs.
I firmly believe that the Voynich MS artist (draughtsman) must have seen herbal MSs. One just doesn't come up with such elements in plant drawings by oneself.
The traditional view that remained unchallenged was that the Voynich MS does not copy any series of illustrations from any other known herbal. At least not among the 60 or so I've seen.
The similarity of the ivy-and-oak is not one of a copy - at best an inspiration. And it is a single case so far.