07-04-2026, 07:34 PM
Okay, I was able to read Toresella. And I feel obliged to share my observations 
He actually writes very little about Voynich Manuscript, about one page of text. But he indeed says it is probably a kind of charlatan manuscript.
He focuses only on the herbal part of Voynich and assigns it to a bigger groups of so-called "herbals of the alchemists":
It will be good to clarify immediately that the term "Herbal of the Alchemists" refers to a collection of plant illustrations, almost always fantastical, which cannot be traced back to any of the herbals mentioned so far. The name was given by the great Bolognese naturalist Ulisse Aldrovandi (1522-1605), who had gathered a certain number of these herbals and bound them together with this label: "Plants of the Alchemists." In the absence of a better definition, I will also use this term.
Actually this stuff was discussed here in 2017. The term seems a bit controversial but I won't go deeper into it:
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If I understand correctly, "Herbal of the alchemists" is a bit wrong name and a misnomer. It should be rather called a "herbal of charlatans" as Toresella says:
But who were these alchemists? References to alchemists in relation to herbals or healing practices are incredibly scarce and vague,especially in the earlier periods, namely the 14th and 15th centuries. Overall, they were assimilated to empirical doctors, wandering herbalists and apothecaries (figure 12), charlatans, elderly women
knowledgeable in herbs, barbers, castrators, "Jewish practitioners," deceivers, and peddlers of miraculous remedies.They were associated with performers and entertainers who crowded the squares of medieval towns and cities. They were even compared to beggars and panhandlers, soothsayers, swindlers, actors, and jugglers. Those who used the herbals of the alchemists plied their trade in the squares, often with extraordinary success, as itinerant healers.
Toresella says that Voynich Manuscript is a herbal of alchemists but doesn't argue much for that. In his paper it is a herbal of alchemists just because the plants seem fantastical:
Among the herbals of the alchemists, we must also include the one contained in the Voynich manuscript. It is the strangest, most mysterious, and enigmatic herbal
known because it is written in a coded language that has resisted the attacks of the most powerful American electronic processors.
The important thing for me is that he confirms that charlatans owned and used manuscripts:
However, a good number of these herbals are clearly the working tools of a quack doctor from the fair who probably sold his remedies and art by presenting them with a written and illustrated text that left the educated public and the illustrious assembly astounded.
(...)
We will present a very interesting case that can demonstrate how an herbal might have originated. Around 1230, during the reign of Frederick II of Swabia,
two copies were made of a beautiful Byzantine herbal from Pseudo-Apuleius, probably dating back to the 6th century. One of these copies reached Florence,
perhaps in the early 15th century, where it served as inspiration for a new copy, with a distinctly 15th-century taste. A client of the same writing workshop,
a charlatan named Master Ghino, wanted his herbal to have the same figure on the frontispiece as the Pseudo-Apuleius herbal. Additionally, he decided,
on his own initiative, to depict himself grandly, on horseback, holding a herb in his hand, in the same pose as the 15th-century codex depicts the doctor entering the city
He actually writes very little about Voynich Manuscript, about one page of text. But he indeed says it is probably a kind of charlatan manuscript.
He focuses only on the herbal part of Voynich and assigns it to a bigger groups of so-called "herbals of the alchemists":
It will be good to clarify immediately that the term "Herbal of the Alchemists" refers to a collection of plant illustrations, almost always fantastical, which cannot be traced back to any of the herbals mentioned so far. The name was given by the great Bolognese naturalist Ulisse Aldrovandi (1522-1605), who had gathered a certain number of these herbals and bound them together with this label: "Plants of the Alchemists." In the absence of a better definition, I will also use this term.
Actually this stuff was discussed here in 2017. The term seems a bit controversial but I won't go deeper into it:
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
If I understand correctly, "Herbal of the alchemists" is a bit wrong name and a misnomer. It should be rather called a "herbal of charlatans" as Toresella says:
But who were these alchemists? References to alchemists in relation to herbals or healing practices are incredibly scarce and vague,especially in the earlier periods, namely the 14th and 15th centuries. Overall, they were assimilated to empirical doctors, wandering herbalists and apothecaries (figure 12), charlatans, elderly women
knowledgeable in herbs, barbers, castrators, "Jewish practitioners," deceivers, and peddlers of miraculous remedies.They were associated with performers and entertainers who crowded the squares of medieval towns and cities. They were even compared to beggars and panhandlers, soothsayers, swindlers, actors, and jugglers. Those who used the herbals of the alchemists plied their trade in the squares, often with extraordinary success, as itinerant healers.
Toresella says that Voynich Manuscript is a herbal of alchemists but doesn't argue much for that. In his paper it is a herbal of alchemists just because the plants seem fantastical:
Among the herbals of the alchemists, we must also include the one contained in the Voynich manuscript. It is the strangest, most mysterious, and enigmatic herbal
known because it is written in a coded language that has resisted the attacks of the most powerful American electronic processors.
The important thing for me is that he confirms that charlatans owned and used manuscripts:
However, a good number of these herbals are clearly the working tools of a quack doctor from the fair who probably sold his remedies and art by presenting them with a written and illustrated text that left the educated public and the illustrious assembly astounded.
(...)
We will present a very interesting case that can demonstrate how an herbal might have originated. Around 1230, during the reign of Frederick II of Swabia,
two copies were made of a beautiful Byzantine herbal from Pseudo-Apuleius, probably dating back to the 6th century. One of these copies reached Florence,
perhaps in the early 15th century, where it served as inspiration for a new copy, with a distinctly 15th-century taste. A client of the same writing workshop,
a charlatan named Master Ghino, wanted his herbal to have the same figure on the frontispiece as the Pseudo-Apuleius herbal. Additionally, he decided,
on his own initiative, to depict himself grandly, on horseback, holding a herb in his hand, in the same pose as the 15th-century codex depicts the doctor entering the city