23-06-2026, 10:56 AM
Welcome to the forum! It's nice to see a good old non-AI, non-delusional opening post again
I've been looking at this manuscript on and off for the last ten years, and I don't think I've ever actively noticed that side hole before.
Regarding the parchment: in recent months, Lisa Fagin Davis has made the point that the VM was not written on choice vellum, but rather on lower-quality parchment. Voynich researchers have long been calling it vellum though, and there is a bit of confusion around the terms. The jury is out on just how poor the parchment is, and how it compares to other manuscripts of the lower tiers. Was the parchment a bit below average, or barely worth the effort of processing it? (We don't know).
As far as I am aware, there is no consensus on the general order of the damages. I think this topic was more often discussed in the past, but hasn't drawn much attention in recent years.
I think you're right to point out f14 as a special example. There are other cases where the edge is compromised, but there the text and/or drawings take that into account. In the case of f14, it looks like the damage was a bit different. The edges are sharper - was part of it cut out, maybe in an attempt to stop the damage from spreading? And it does look like further damage took place after the drawing was done.
I've been looking at this manuscript on and off for the last ten years, and I don't think I've ever actively noticed that side hole before. Regarding the parchment: in recent months, Lisa Fagin Davis has made the point that the VM was not written on choice vellum, but rather on lower-quality parchment. Voynich researchers have long been calling it vellum though, and there is a bit of confusion around the terms. The jury is out on just how poor the parchment is, and how it compares to other manuscripts of the lower tiers. Was the parchment a bit below average, or barely worth the effort of processing it? (We don't know).
As far as I am aware, there is no consensus on the general order of the damages. I think this topic was more often discussed in the past, but hasn't drawn much attention in recent years.
I think you're right to point out f14 as a special example. There are other cases where the edge is compromised, but there the text and/or drawings take that into account. In the case of f14, it looks like the damage was a bit different. The edges are sharper - was part of it cut out, maybe in an attempt to stop the damage from spreading? And it does look like further damage took place after the drawing was done.


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