10-09-2025, 10:09 AM
I think the chance is high that some known and digitized manuscripts have relevance for the VM, but this relevance hasn't been noticed yet. But then I'm thinking about something relatively small, like an illuminating parallel for an image. Not a page of Voynichese text or something like that.
When it comes to archives, I have two questions. Not rhetorical ones - actual questions.
One is about the Vatican archives. What is in there, how much is "hidden", how much is digitized, how well-known are these scans? How accessible is it to researchers, and how many manuscripts are there that have not been touched by anyone who had Voynichese in their accessible memory?
Second is smaller archives, libraries and collections. How many are there in potentially relevant areas that escape digitization? How often are these manuscripts looked at? How many manuscripts are sitting there that have been unopened during the last 50 years?
Either way, I think it's unlikely that a Voynich researcher will find something unless they're looking with purpose. For example, if I knew a library in a German-speaking region had undigitized illustrated Hausbuchs, I would probably say that's worth a trip, with a moderate chance of finding some interesting images.
But to find Voynichese in another manuscript - where would we even start looking? What would guide our efforts? Say you're in a library with 10,000 undigitized and barely catalogued manuscripts, how do you proceed? I honestly don't know.
When it comes to archives, I have two questions. Not rhetorical ones - actual questions.
One is about the Vatican archives. What is in there, how much is "hidden", how much is digitized, how well-known are these scans? How accessible is it to researchers, and how many manuscripts are there that have not been touched by anyone who had Voynichese in their accessible memory?
Second is smaller archives, libraries and collections. How many are there in potentially relevant areas that escape digitization? How often are these manuscripts looked at? How many manuscripts are sitting there that have been unopened during the last 50 years?
Either way, I think it's unlikely that a Voynich researcher will find something unless they're looking with purpose. For example, if I knew a library in a German-speaking region had undigitized illustrated Hausbuchs, I would probably say that's worth a trip, with a moderate chance of finding some interesting images.
But to find Voynichese in another manuscript - where would we even start looking? What would guide our efforts? Say you're in a library with 10,000 undigitized and barely catalogued manuscripts, how do you proceed? I honestly don't know.