Morten St George Theory

[Morten St. George]

The person who wrote the marginalia used 15th-century script. So the marginalia may have added long before the manuscript was numbered and bound. In the Middle Ages, manuscripts were usually purchased (or given to their patrons) unbound and usually un-numbered, as well, since the creator didn't know how many extra leaves would be added to the beginning and end and in between sections. The binder's assistant or apprentice was probably the one adding the numbers. There is evidence of division of labor in added page numbers.

In 1597, a botanical book was published in England displaying a shield in the form of a fleur de lys on its front cover. The shield contained Arabic and Roman numerals, which could be added up in two ways: one sequence added up to 79, the number of a Nostradamus prophecy containing the words "fleur de lys"; the other sequence added up to 85, the number of a VMS page whose foldout includes a drawing of the fleur de lys.

But that does not necessarily mean the numbers were added to the VMS prior to 1597. The order of the pages could have re-arranged so that the number 85 would fall next to the fleur de lys.



The VMS marginalia on You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. (to the right of your rotated m) includes a shield in the form of a fleur de lys, similar in design to the shield seen on the 1597 publication. This is where your expertise comes in handy: Does shield overwrite the number 1 or does the number 1 overwrite the shield? Another possibility: Does the shield stop just before reaching the number 1 and then continue on the other side? For sure, this will determine which was written first: the marginalia or the numbering. Beware: cryptic writing can be deliberately deceptive, that is, they might want you to think one was written before the other whereas in reality they could have been done at the same time.

Based on historical considerations, both the marginalia and the numbering would have been done between 1584 and 1625.