22-08-2025, 08:09 PM
And since I am here: I don't think Voynich actually forged the VMS or Marci's letter. But I think he was quite capable of doing some dirty tricks in order to support his claim that the VMS was a Roger Bacon original.
We know that he got that idea from Raphael's comment that was reported by Marci on the VMS cover letter. But that comment could be dismissed as being just Raphael's guess, based on nothing else than his hearsay knowledge that Rudolf once paid a large sum for a supposed Bacon original. (And this is also my view of Raphael's claim.)
But, as I wrote before, to sell the VMS as a Bacon original Voynich needed more than just that comment. In particular, he needed plausible explanations for (A) how a Bacon original could have reached Rudolf, and (B) how it could have left Rudolf's library and ended up in Baresch's hands.
For (A), he found the link in John Dee, who was known to possess some Bacon books and visited Rudolf at some point. At the time it seemed a perfect link, that was debunked only recently. What about (B)?
I think it is possible (even if not probable) that Voynich zeroed in on Jacobus as possible link in the chain of owners between Rudolf and Baresch. It seems possible that he eventually managed to get a copy of the front page of one of the books that Jacobus owned, showing Jacobus signature and his book numbering system. If so, the temptation would be strong for Voynich to forge a faint similar ex-libris on the bottom of f1r, photograph it, then "accidentally" erase it so as to hide the forgery. Such "proof" that Jacobus owned the VMS before Baresch would make Raphael's claim a lot more credible.
Could that have happened, and would Voynich have ceded to the temptation? Again, I don't think it is likely -- but there have been many cases or foul play more outlandish than that.
And I also think that Voynich would be quite capable of removing from the VMS any evidence that could weaken or contradict his claim. Such as any stamp, signature, or marginal note that would indicate that the book could not ever have been in Rudolf's possession.
All the best, --jorge
We know that he got that idea from Raphael's comment that was reported by Marci on the VMS cover letter. But that comment could be dismissed as being just Raphael's guess, based on nothing else than his hearsay knowledge that Rudolf once paid a large sum for a supposed Bacon original. (And this is also my view of Raphael's claim.)
But, as I wrote before, to sell the VMS as a Bacon original Voynich needed more than just that comment. In particular, he needed plausible explanations for (A) how a Bacon original could have reached Rudolf, and (B) how it could have left Rudolf's library and ended up in Baresch's hands.
For (A), he found the link in John Dee, who was known to possess some Bacon books and visited Rudolf at some point. At the time it seemed a perfect link, that was debunked only recently. What about (B)?
I think it is possible (even if not probable) that Voynich zeroed in on Jacobus as possible link in the chain of owners between Rudolf and Baresch. It seems possible that he eventually managed to get a copy of the front page of one of the books that Jacobus owned, showing Jacobus signature and his book numbering system. If so, the temptation would be strong for Voynich to forge a faint similar ex-libris on the bottom of f1r, photograph it, then "accidentally" erase it so as to hide the forgery. Such "proof" that Jacobus owned the VMS before Baresch would make Raphael's claim a lot more credible.
Could that have happened, and would Voynich have ceded to the temptation? Again, I don't think it is likely -- but there have been many cases or foul play more outlandish than that.
And I also think that Voynich would be quite capable of removing from the VMS any evidence that could weaken or contradict his claim. Such as any stamp, signature, or marginal note that would indicate that the book could not ever have been in Rudolf's possession.
All the best, --jorge