Was the VM a failure?

[bi3mw]

I wouldn't say that the VMS was a failure. The crucial question seems to be whether or not it was ever intended for distribution. Encryption without any reference to the method in the manuscript itself (as in other encrypted manuscripts) suggests that it was not intended for distribution in the first place. There is still the possibility that there were clues on the missing pages of the manuscript, but I think this is rather unlikely. In my opinion, it can therefore be assumed that the encryption was generally intended to make it impossible for others to read the manuscript. The use of the VMS was therefore reserved for a few insiders. The question arises as to what was so explosive in terms of content that it was thought necessary to conceal it. In any case, the illustrations do not suggest such an explosive nature. On the contrary, if the content is related to the illustrations, which is to be assumed, then we are dealing with rather trivial topics. One could assume that the encryption was more of an end in itself, a kind of intellectual “finger exercise”. So it does not seem surprising that the (experimental) method did not spread further, as it would have had to be disclosed.