[split] Jorge's Retracer Thread: darker ink, retracing of text and drawings

[Jorge_Stolfi]

We have a lot of threads completely going off the rails into retracer territory, to the extent that some pages can no longer be discussed without retracers and restorers and redactors and The Author and The Scribe coming up and taking over the discussion. Please discuss theories about such characters in this thread as much as possible.

Fine with me.  But the Retracing Theory (like the Author Not Scribe Theory) has impact in every attempt at image analysis.  Failure to consider it can lead people on a long false path and unnecessary disputes.

For instance, when someone claims that the VMS must have been created in Austria, because of that nymph's crown, I must point out that the crown at least looks damn like a later addition.  "It was just the original scribe with a new batch of ink [and a sudden interest in breasts]" is not a fact, but just another alternative theory.  If one is going to claim "made in Austria" by assuming this hypothesis, one should provide evidence for it...

Most people here have already accepted that the VMS has suffered various interventions over the centuries: bifolio reordering and losses, the incorrect foliation, Sinapius's signature, the month names, the three-way table on f1r, the marginalia on You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. and f116v, ...  No one would claim that it must be a 17th century forgery because the folio numbers and marginalia are in 17th century letter style.  No one would claim that it must have been created in France because the month names sound sort of French.  Many have also accepted that the color paints are a very late addition, and therefore must be ignored when trying to match plants or interpret diagrams and piping.  

Well, I just see plenty of evidence that there were additional interventions, that people should be aware of and ignore...

All the best, --stolfi

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What you see as K. That is an ending, and the second is a combination.

You mean the (X,W) glyph?  What do you mean by "ending" and "combination"?