4o

[Davidsch]

[Deleted as I realized I already gave the example up-thread. Mods are welcome to remove this post.]

Well, if you have a direct link to this cipher manuscript page or the transcribed text, or as a matter a fact ANY information about the page, please do provide.
Because i gave up this search cause i could not find a direct link to either the physical  storage (beinecke?) nor an transcription or discussion of the piece.

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The 4o is one of the most puzzling things in the VMS to me. 
The possibility of 4 being a obfuscated (plus sign) + is far fetched and abandoned by me a while back, because i see no logical explanation for the following o.
The other possibility is that the 4 is used a phonetic replacement. In english  that would be for "four" or "fore".  
For example like the 8 stands for "acht" in Dutch and German, like in the word "ver8" (expected) or "89" ("~acht-ung") you can also use the phonetic 4 like "4uelle" (virtuelle=virtual). In English that can be used in "foresee=4see" or "4cast=forecast" or "4arm=forearm".


Currently, the 4o I consider to be an abbreviation. In Italian i remembered seeing the 4 in text used for quattro in medieval text.
If there are good other examples where 4 is an abbreviation that would be very interesting.