06-06-2025, 12:35 PM
One of scenarios that I considered is what if the manuscript was written in captivity/imprisonment. So, the author was not free in the choice of materials, inks and dyes available. Who knows, maybe the author had to hide the fact that she or he was writing the manuscript at all. This would explain the small format, use of vellum with holes and tears and writing in what appears to be a badly prepared quill on some of the folios, with a lot of splits of the tip. Then again, this would explain the encoding, if the author intended to smuggle the complete work to the outside world and then deny own involvement.
Then it's possible that different handwritings just correspond to using different kinds of quills, not all of them are comfortable, or having to write under different circumstances (in dim light, in an inconvenient pose).
This is all fantasy of course and may have nothing to do with the actual story behind the manuscript, but that's my point exactly. We don't know enough to be certain about different scribes, etc.
Then it's possible that different handwritings just correspond to using different kinds of quills, not all of them are comfortable, or having to write under different circumstances (in dim light, in an inconvenient pose).
This is all fantasy of course and may have nothing to do with the actual story behind the manuscript, but that's my point exactly. We don't know enough to be certain about different scribes, etc.