26-08-2020, 01:13 AM
I know it has been awhile since this thread was current, but i came across a reason that hasn't seemed to be covered, and thought it should go here.
I was reading about Isadore of Seville and how many ancient writings he had referenced were actually lost because he did such a good job of making a compendium of scholarly knowledge that no one copied the originals anymore. Instead, they copied his works.
It seems to me that this could be known to scholars in the 15th century, and if the vms was to be a collection of various writings admired by the makers, and they wanted to avoid that fate for those writings, they might hide the meaning of their copy precisely so that their work wouldn't be copied in favour of the originals, leaving those to continue to remain the references they were and move forward as if they hadn't created his obscured compendium thereof.
So basically, instead of trying to make money, or hide secrets, they just wanted to save the info, not only for themselves, but for the originals to also remain undamaged over time by doing so.
Perhaps they knew times were changing, and wanted to see where the chips fell before making a final public copy. Or maybe it was just to have the information and be able to impart it verbally, which again would not destroy the existing texts.
It might also have been known to them that Isadore's own copies differed with redactions due to changing times, and so having the compendium in an initial state where it could be used as a guide to impart whatever info in whatever style was appropriate might also have been a motivating factor, ie making it impossible to be accused of whatever allegiances or opinions that might have been had at the time of writing, i.e. if it was obscured enough, it would be impossible to compare copies with the original to look for ommissions or additions, especially if it is all mnemonics and personal shorthand.
I was reading about Isadore of Seville and how many ancient writings he had referenced were actually lost because he did such a good job of making a compendium of scholarly knowledge that no one copied the originals anymore. Instead, they copied his works.
It seems to me that this could be known to scholars in the 15th century, and if the vms was to be a collection of various writings admired by the makers, and they wanted to avoid that fate for those writings, they might hide the meaning of their copy precisely so that their work wouldn't be copied in favour of the originals, leaving those to continue to remain the references they were and move forward as if they hadn't created his obscured compendium thereof.
So basically, instead of trying to make money, or hide secrets, they just wanted to save the info, not only for themselves, but for the originals to also remain undamaged over time by doing so.
Perhaps they knew times were changing, and wanted to see where the chips fell before making a final public copy. Or maybe it was just to have the information and be able to impart it verbally, which again would not destroy the existing texts.
It might also have been known to them that Isadore's own copies differed with redactions due to changing times, and so having the compendium in an initial state where it could be used as a guide to impart whatever info in whatever style was appropriate might also have been a motivating factor, ie making it impossible to be accused of whatever allegiances or opinions that might have been had at the time of writing, i.e. if it was obscured enough, it would be impossible to compare copies with the original to look for ommissions or additions, especially if it is all mnemonics and personal shorthand.