Speculative fraud hypothesis

[Jim Reeds]

I do not find this a bad idea at all, and in fact it has also been discussed before.

This is close to a hypothesis from a reputable expert on ancient herbals: Sergio Toresella, described in this publication: Toresella, Sergio: Gli erbari degli alchmisti, in: L. Saginati, Arte farmaceutica e piante medicinali; erbari, vasi, strumenti e testi dalle raccolte liguri, 1995.

...

This was also the main premise of Robert Brumbaugh's 1978 theory, explained in a book and an article in Speculum.  A curious gimmick of his theory was that the VMS was supposed to look like an easily decodable cipher,  to make it more attractive to prospective buyers.