Period of Original Use

[-JKP-]

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I understand that quire and page numbering was added to the manuscript at different times, and that some of the painting was redone at one point. This suggest at one owner to between the first and the seller, as the quire and page numbers are different and the final seller would have had no reason to add either set them (regardless of whether the handwriting matches the timeframe). Yet would this owner be among those who understood the text or not? I can't see how we would judge, except that by adding numbering they showed a certain level of care and interest in the manuscript.

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There was often quite a lag between the creation of a manuscript and when it was bound (sometimes a century or two). In the case of the VMS, the quire numbers are in the style that started to fade out in the 15th century and was mostly gone by the 16th century (a few people still used it, probably the older ones who had learned the 14th-century numeric styles, but most had adapted the early modern styles by about 1490 to about 1540)

The folio numbers are in a style that became popular after the beginning of the 15th century, so the VMS may have been bound closer to the time of creation than many other manuscripts. It's speculation on my part, but perhaps this was because it was small and portable and intended to be carried? (to have a practical purpose)?

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I have collected hundreds of paleographic samples over the last decade, to try to date and locate the quire and folio numbers more precisely.

I don't have time to write this up in full yet (I might not be able to do it before autumn), but I can summarize some of the findings...

The quire numbers are in the earlier style popular in the late 14th century and early 15th century which was gradually superseded by the early modern numbers.

• The closest matches so far are in manuscripts from Germany, many of them. There are a few that are possibly from northern Italy (Lombardy?), one is possibly from England.
  
• The dates of the closest matches range from about 1327 to about 1510, with most of them ranging about 1420 to about 1465.
  

The folio numbers are in the later style that started to become popular around the middle of the 15th century and which is essentially similar to our modern numbers.

• The closest matches to the folio numbers are in manuscripts from Bavaria, England, the Netherlands, France, and one that is from Italy and England, but might have been foliated and bound in England. The almost-close matches have a similar distribution.
  
• The date range of the closest matches is c. 1420 to c. 1541. I will create a map to show the clusters when I find time to write this up with paleographic examples.
  

Note that foliation and quire numbers are difficult to date because they are frequently added some time after a manuscript was created—it must be done paleographically. To overcome this challenge, whenever possible, I tried to find comparison numbers WITHIN THE MAIN TEXT, since these can be more reliably dated than foliation that may have been added later.


Some observations:

• The date range suggested by the samples is consistent with paleographic expectations (no surprises so far).
  
• It might be significant that the style of the quire numbers is not particularly widespread.
  
• The style of the folio numbers is of interest because their geographical distribution turned out to be consistent with the style of the VMS zodiac figures, almost entirely from the Holy Roman Empire and the area around Paris/Belgium/Netherlands, with maybe one or two uncertain ones from northern Italy.
  

Note that this is ongoing research. By the time I can find time to write it up, I will probably have more samples, which may shift things slightly, but what is coming out is pretty consistent so far.