09-09-2016, 10:05 AM
(This post was last modified: 09-09-2016, 10:18 AM by Diane.
Edit Reason: clarification
)
Koen and all,
I cannot tell you what a pleasure it is to see the difference between reception here when theme of mnemonics was introduced, to that which met my efforts to begin a similar discussion on the old mailing list after having repeatedly noted and explained the presence of such items in botanical folios in Beinecke Ms 408. That effort, and the research which led to it, lasted from 2010-2015, without response.
Only with the establishment of Voynich.ninja has this topic at last been engaged - which is not to say it may not have been, meanwhile, adopted and re-presented without acknowledgement of my own work.
I think we owe special thanks to Koen for having brought the theme forward here, and to everyone else for the transparent and enthusiastic style of engagement.
Since I've been writing about this matter in every analysis of a botanical folio written up since 2010, I feel there's little point in joining in this thread now only to repeat it all.
I will say one thing: the way in which the Latin manuscripts and herbals relate the plant to the mnemonic is by reference to the language of Latin; the way in which the mnemonics or 'pictorial annotations' work in the Voynich botanical folios (I'm not speaking of the 'root and leaf' section) is very rarely by reference to names for plants, nor by reference to Latin (one of the very few exceptions is the little dragon on f.25v).
This, as well as stylistic considerations and more, lead to conclude that there is a very substantial difference in character and mind-set informing the Voynich botanical series than informs the Latins "herbs of the alchemists".
I do not doubt some more remote point in common, but I believe it would be a mistake to suppose too close a connection between them.
Postscript: perhaps I should add that I have identified, described and classified the set of root mnemonics (or 'pictorial devices') employed in the botanical section. This work was done and published before 2014 and will be included in the forthcoming book.
I cannot tell you what a pleasure it is to see the difference between reception here when theme of mnemonics was introduced, to that which met my efforts to begin a similar discussion on the old mailing list after having repeatedly noted and explained the presence of such items in botanical folios in Beinecke Ms 408. That effort, and the research which led to it, lasted from 2010-2015, without response.
Only with the establishment of Voynich.ninja has this topic at last been engaged - which is not to say it may not have been, meanwhile, adopted and re-presented without acknowledgement of my own work.
I think we owe special thanks to Koen for having brought the theme forward here, and to everyone else for the transparent and enthusiastic style of engagement.
Since I've been writing about this matter in every analysis of a botanical folio written up since 2010, I feel there's little point in joining in this thread now only to repeat it all.
I will say one thing: the way in which the Latin manuscripts and herbals relate the plant to the mnemonic is by reference to the language of Latin; the way in which the mnemonics or 'pictorial annotations' work in the Voynich botanical folios (I'm not speaking of the 'root and leaf' section) is very rarely by reference to names for plants, nor by reference to Latin (one of the very few exceptions is the little dragon on f.25v).
This, as well as stylistic considerations and more, lead to conclude that there is a very substantial difference in character and mind-set informing the Voynich botanical series than informs the Latins "herbs of the alchemists".
I do not doubt some more remote point in common, but I believe it would be a mistake to suppose too close a connection between them.
Postscript: perhaps I should add that I have identified, described and classified the set of root mnemonics (or 'pictorial devices') employed in the botanical section. This work was done and published before 2014 and will be included in the forthcoming book.