(16-01-2023, 08:44 AM)stegu wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.600 fl. would be just too much for a single manuscript. But for a small lot of precious books it seems reasonable.
Thank you for the clarification.
Might we even say that "600 gold coins" is too much for a single manuscript, regardless of the exact type of coin they intended?
These questions are relevant because they impact the way we imagine the Rudolf transaction taking place. Right now, there was this image of an enigmatic person offering the manuscript to Rudolf as a separate artefact. The emperor was then so impressed by the manuscript, that he spent much more on it than in any other of his manuscript purchases you were able to find. This includes single manuscripts, as wel as per-manuscript prices for batch purchases. And even for a set of books, 600 ducats would have been a lot. So if we take Marci's letter literally, it would mean that the Voynich was Rudolf's most expensive manuscript by far, but it was not recorded nor generally known.
If we want to stick to the relatively specific "600" amount, the alternative you found is that it was part of a batch. This changes the way we perceive the transaction. For all we know it was at the bottom of the barrel and Rudolf never even saw it, and it eventually ended up in the periphery of the court.
Regarding "allerlai", my point is that this word itself does not indicate whether it is a small or large amount. It just indicates variation, but it might be ten things or ten thousand things. The English "a couple" does suggest a small amount.