The claimed Voynich page

[kckluge]

No, Renè, it does not contain manuscript books but only printed ones and those pertaining to the Florentine context and the only noteworthy printed book is the one catalogued at no. 266 at a cost of 400 francs (the most expensive in the catalogue) with a note, I imagine by Voynich himself, which intrigued me and pushed me to further research (which turned out to be incredible), concerning the discovery of America by Columbus, about which I was asked and I gave conferences on the subject... but that's another story.

A copy of the work in question is available on-line at You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.

Quoting your translation of the catalog entry (You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.): "This passage clearly shows that they had full knowledge of the existence of extensive land in the Atlantic before Columbus returned from his first voyage. It is clear that this note does not refer to the Azores or other islands of Portugal. Considering the latest research by Henry Vignaud this fact is certainly very significant, however, as this is not the place to deal with such an argument, we leave any discussion to the authorities."

Whoever wrote that description for the catalog appears to have been gilding the lily a bit. According to a note in The Catholic Historical Review in 1940 (You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.) while this is the earliest mention of the Americas in print, that reference was inserted into the text of the speech after it was given (and after Columbus had returned) while the text was being prepared for publication: "The first mention of America in print apparently appeared in Rome. On December 13, 1492, the Milanese envoy Jason de Mayno said in an oration delivered before Pope Alexander VI: 'Patria tibi est Hispania: cuius orientale et septentrionale latus Pyrenei montes undequaque includunt. Relique partes usque ad Herculeas Gades et Borealem Oceanum protenduntur.' This was the time-honored description of the boundaries of Spain, and the sentence in itself was of no particular importance. While the orator was preparing his manuscript for the press, Columbus returned from his first voyage (March, 1493) and the news of the discovery of America electrified the world. Naturally the Milanese envoy seized the opportunity of flattering the Spanish-born pope still more by adding to the above text: 'Quae in eo montium et oceani maris ambitu includuntur quasi alterum orbem facientia ad Hispaniam spectant: cuius latitudo et longitudo tam multa, tam ampla et tam immensa est ut plus habeat admirationis quam credulitatis. Interfluunt quam plures fluvii non solum navigabiles, sed auriferi, etc.' The oration with this reference to the newly discovered continent was printed at Rome by Stephen Plannck, who shortly after printed the first Latin translation of the Letter of Columbus. To all appearance the oration of Mayno antedates even the Spanish editions of Columbus' Letter, so that we have in it the first mention of the New World in print. At any rate the orator magnifying the newly discovered lands into a 'quasi alter orbis' came nearer the truth than Columbus himself, who speaks of islands, and never dreamed that he had discovered a new continent"

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