[Design of Marci Letter]

[LisaFaginDavis]

There are many things that could cause staining like that over the course of hundreds of years. Smoke exposure, liquid, dirt, to name just a few. The next question from someone will certainly be - can it be tested? Sure, but I guarantee you that there's no way the Library would agree to the time, expense, risk, and staff time that would be required when the outcome really wouldn't add anything to our understanding of the letter. It's a letter written by Marci's secretary in 1665 when he sent Kircher a mysterious manuscript as a gift. The long-standing physical association of the letter with the Voynich Manuscript, along with Voynich's report of how he found it, makes it quite likely that the letter does in fact refer to the Voynich. Nothing is certain in this business, but it is much more likely than not.