07-04-2026, 12:27 PM
I'd like to add some historical research context to "charlatan theory".
I believe the first person who mentioned charlatans in the context of Voynich Manuscript was Sergio Toresella, an expert on medieval herbals, who did it yet in the 1990s.
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Sergio Toresella, an expert on ancient herbals, pointed out that the Voynich manuscript could be an alchemical herbal—which actually had nothing to do with alchemy, but was a bogus herbal with invented pictures, that a quack doctor would carry around just to impress his clients. Apparently there was a small cottage industry of such books somewhere in northern Italy, just at the right epoch. However, those books are quite different from the Voynich manuscript in style and format; and they were all written in plain language.
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Sergio Toresella believes the VMs was written for the purpose of impressing the clients of some charlatan.
Unfortunately I wasn't able to locate any original text by Toresella.
Specifically I couldn't find online his article:
'Gli erbari degli alchimisti.' In Arte farmaceuticae e piante medicinali --erbari, vasi, strumenti e testi dalle raccolte liguri,
Liana Saginati, ed. Pisa: Pacini Editore, 1996, pp.31-70.
Does anybody have this or other works of Toresella and would be willing to share them here?
I believe the first person who mentioned charlatans in the context of Voynich Manuscript was Sergio Toresella, an expert on medieval herbals, who did it yet in the 1990s.
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
Sergio Toresella, an expert on ancient herbals, pointed out that the Voynich manuscript could be an alchemical herbal—which actually had nothing to do with alchemy, but was a bogus herbal with invented pictures, that a quack doctor would carry around just to impress his clients. Apparently there was a small cottage industry of such books somewhere in northern Italy, just at the right epoch. However, those books are quite different from the Voynich manuscript in style and format; and they were all written in plain language.
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
Sergio Toresella believes the VMs was written for the purpose of impressing the clients of some charlatan.
Unfortunately I wasn't able to locate any original text by Toresella.
Specifically I couldn't find online his article:
'Gli erbari degli alchimisti.' In Arte farmaceuticae e piante medicinali --erbari, vasi, strumenti e testi dalle raccolte liguri,
Liana Saginati, ed. Pisa: Pacini Editore, 1996, pp.31-70.
Does anybody have this or other works of Toresella and would be willing to share them here?