18-09-2019, 02:01 AM
Renegade, I am hoping palaeography can clear up some of those mystery holes, but it is definitely needle-in-a-haystack research (I've been searching almost daily for more than 11 years with no bingo yet).
I think part of the allure of a book like the VMS during Rudolph II's reign is that he was interested in science. Alchemistry was very popular at the time and he supported numerous alchemists. Mysterious drawings and text fit right in with the tradition of cryptic illustration that emerged from alchemical traditions in the 16th and 17th centuries. He was also relatively close to Jacobi, the Jesuit-educated pharmacist who, in turn was interested in plants and who managed botanical gardens.
Assuming the Emperor paid 600 ducats for the VMS, advantageous timing was surely part of the reason. A hundred years earlier or even a decade later, it might not have fetched such a princely sum and we might have known much less about or might never have seen it at all.
When Rudolph died, Matthias ejected many of the scientists who had been near and dear to Rudolph, so it is doubtful he would have had the same interest in the VMS as his brother.
I think part of the allure of a book like the VMS during Rudolph II's reign is that he was interested in science. Alchemistry was very popular at the time and he supported numerous alchemists. Mysterious drawings and text fit right in with the tradition of cryptic illustration that emerged from alchemical traditions in the 16th and 17th centuries. He was also relatively close to Jacobi, the Jesuit-educated pharmacist who, in turn was interested in plants and who managed botanical gardens.
Assuming the Emperor paid 600 ducats for the VMS, advantageous timing was surely part of the reason. A hundred years earlier or even a decade later, it might not have fetched such a princely sum and we might have known much less about or might never have seen it at all.
When Rudolph died, Matthias ejected many of the scientists who had been near and dear to Rudolph, so it is doubtful he would have had the same interest in the VMS as his brother.
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