Let me start by pointing to You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view., which is fully relevant for this discussion.
I have had personal discussions with several librarians and other old book experts, and they have invariably recognised an Italian 'nature' of the MS, or a German 'nature'.
Note that I (always) use the term Italian and German as denoting areas with respect to modern borders. I think that most people do that.
I will not quote private discussions here, but let me refer to some documented cases.
Sergio Toresella, well-known herbal expert, described his interpretation of the Voynich MS in or around 1995, as 'very close to the alchemical herbals'. These herbals are from Northern Italy. He compared the handwriting to Italian humanist writing. The short conclusion is that everything told him: Italian. Some (not all) of this is documented here: Toresella, Sergio: Gli erbari degli alchmisti, in: L. Saginati, Arte farmaceutica e piante medicinali; erbari, vasi, strumenti e testi dalle raccolte liguri, 1995.
Alain Touwaide, another well-known herbal expert, sees a close relation between the Voynich MS illustrations and the 'Tractatus de Herbis, most of all MS Sloane 4016. These manuscripts are also from Northern Italy.
His publication (more coming): Touwaide, Alain: Il Manoscritto piu Misterioso - l'Erbario Voynich, in: Villa Mondragone "Seconda Roma", a cura di Marina Formica, Palomba Editori, 2015, pp. 141-158.
An English summary (but beware of hacked links): You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
Now Toresella and Touwaide do not necessarily agree on everything... as is probably even typical for top experts in any area, but they do agree on the basics.
Less compelling, but still largely agreed is that many of the symbols used in the writing can be found in Italian ciphers of the time frame of the MS.
I am still hopeful to see these:
I have had personal discussions with several librarians and other old book experts, and they have invariably recognised an Italian 'nature' of the MS, or a German 'nature'.
Note that I (always) use the term Italian and German as denoting areas with respect to modern borders. I think that most people do that.
I will not quote private discussions here, but let me refer to some documented cases.
Sergio Toresella, well-known herbal expert, described his interpretation of the Voynich MS in or around 1995, as 'very close to the alchemical herbals'. These herbals are from Northern Italy. He compared the handwriting to Italian humanist writing. The short conclusion is that everything told him: Italian. Some (not all) of this is documented here: Toresella, Sergio: Gli erbari degli alchmisti, in: L. Saginati, Arte farmaceutica e piante medicinali; erbari, vasi, strumenti e testi dalle raccolte liguri, 1995.
Alain Touwaide, another well-known herbal expert, sees a close relation between the Voynich MS illustrations and the 'Tractatus de Herbis, most of all MS Sloane 4016. These manuscripts are also from Northern Italy.
His publication (more coming): Touwaide, Alain: Il Manoscritto piu Misterioso - l'Erbario Voynich, in: Villa Mondragone "Seconda Roma", a cura di Marina Formica, Palomba Editori, 2015, pp. 141-158.
An English summary (but beware of hacked links): You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
Now Toresella and Touwaide do not necessarily agree on everything... as is probably even typical for top experts in any area, but they do agree on the basics.
Less compelling, but still largely agreed is that many of the symbols used in the writing can be found in Italian ciphers of the time frame of the MS.
I am still hopeful to see these:
Quote:some hints to slavic/eastern european influences are even better