Firstly, Thank you! I've noticed I got two of the zodiacs pages mixed up when I spoke on the. I meant that Gemini Is correct for some reason I got mixed up there and I thought the one marked as December as potentially some unusual Aquarius I don't know what happened there.
' Wrote:There is good evidence that unfortunately, two Zodiac signs are missing.
' Wrote: There is also codicological evidence that pages from the manuscript have been removed. This includes a page after the current Zodiac sequence. Of course, we cannot prove what was on that sheet (it's gone), but it must be taken into consideration.
I was about to: disagree that it is incomplete, To speak on the differences between "The two bulls" They look different enough to at least consider that we may be looking at a complete zodiac/ I admit the difference in shape is subtle although, the coloration seemed to be intentional. Especially considering "Aries" and "Capricorn" Chiefly because; though unfinished, The colour of the zodiac was seemingly important enough to be in the coloured above some other elements on the page. And it is clear from Taurus page the intent was to colour all the (Angels?)
I had considered this. I noticed immediately after the two missing pages. There is a three page extension on the very next page. Is it not possible this may have been a creative decision by the author, Or the book was damaged Prior to writing this? This isn't the only case of missing pages in close proximity to extra large pages. I found it to be the same for the Gigantic 6 page diagram, there seemed to be missing pages of the exact quantity. In this scenario, I Considered how I could be sure the author worked with the damage, So I looked to the 3 pages. There is a sizing mistake with regards to the rondels, The author/artist worked with that and squeezed two rondels together. I don't know if this was possible to "fix up" a book in this way in the 14th century, But I entertained the idea as if it might be. Since I don't understand the intricacies of velum binding. I'm unsure if two "tabs" indicate a single missing page or only two pages.
With the missing page one cannot say. My idea of self inflicted damage. Of course I didn't intend that to mean every page. Simply the ones where the missing pages coincide with extra pages. If in this location there was indeed a true missing page. Then logically we could assume three things it may have been, a) A preface to the next section b) A summary of the section we just went through (if we could read it) Or c) a 13th constellation. There is in fact a 13th constellation and month of the Zodiac, The snake. For obvious religious reasons this has become archaic and was not typically considered in that time period, But could be esoteric for those "In the know." All of these logically and contextually are possible. Edit: Or of course now I'm wrong D) the two missing zodiacs. specifically for that page. which is the most likely.
' Wrote:The fact that there are 12 now appears to be a coincidental consequence of the fact that Aries and Taurus were split over two roundels. Please see the replies to this recent thread for a discussion, especially Rene's reply. You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
I like this very much, I think they have a fantastic grasp of the general situation. Of course, so much more well put together than my first attempt at putting something together. As any reader can tell. I would subscribe to the fact the "Frenchish" names are probably correct within the months. For the example given by Rene on Libra: They put forth a valid point on the generalization of a time rather than specific. Id like to add on that, The dates for Libra are September 23rd through to October 22 as stated. It seems the bulk of this month is within October. Which of course Rene goes into. It could have been simply perceived as the month of October since it largely took place in October. The coincidental evidence they provide supports this.
I do agree this is likely a calendar especially given the context of the pages between the first part of the herbarium and this "Calendar" contextually this makes sense. You would need to know the time of year to perhaps locate these herbs, cultivate them even.
I now admit I was wrong, sadly upon looking at the evidence. I relooked at the two Aries and the two Taurus they both have the same amount of stars. although the words next to them are different than those on the other version. Which I thought may have been intended to be the name of said star to them, but if the word changes on the next page. its likely that one cannot be a name, perhaps both
I admit I was entirely wrong. I suppose not entirely. I did come up with (mostly) the interpretation of the zodiac just by looking. Which I suppose anyone on the planet can do.
Although though the months are special in a agricultural setting and plants growing in the wild. It just adds more strangeness to the months that it appears twice. Even with labours in mind. which the calendar is based on that yet. But I think it has in mind harvest or cultivation of herbs specifically for some ritualistic/medical practise likely both. Which I'm sure is what its all about really at first glance.
I left everything for posterity. So you can see my application of logic. Perhaps the ideas of the damage around the book are interesting, who knows)
I now subscribe to the idea of missing zodiacs. Disheartened but not giving up. I have ideas about more than these pages!