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Something strange about Cod. Sang. 1068
- Something strange about Cod. Sang. 1068
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Something strange about Cod. Sang. 1068
JustAnotherTheory > 18-04-2026, 10:18 AM
Do these look Voynich-y to you?
The writing style reminds one of the marginalia on the VMS:
There several more examples of the above in the manuscript. For information, Cod. Sang. 1068 is a 14th-15th century MS from Switzerland. It was digitized recently, you can find it here:
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. -
RE: Something strange about Cod. Sang. 1068
eggyk > 18-04-2026, 10:35 AM
(18-04-2026, 10:18 AM)JustAnotherTheory Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Do these look Voynich-y to you?
In a way, yes. But that is not strange, and is common across many manuscripts of the era.
For example, I made a similar thread You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. about another manuscript (You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.) which also shares many of those features. Look at the "EVA-like examples" section and you'll see what I mean. Since then, I've seen many many more manuscripts with hands similar in many respects. The images you have posted look quite normal.
The unfortunate reality is that the VMS marginalia handwriting is not much weirder than most hands in the 12th-16th centuries. It is weird in some respects, but marginalia being weird and varied seems to have been the norm. Voynichese itself also shares many forms with the handwriting from that era, and almost all of the symbols can be found somewhere, in some context. -
RE: Something strange about Cod. Sang. 1068
JustAnotherTheory > 18-04-2026, 10:49 AM
(18-04-2026, 10:35 AM)eggyk Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.The unfortunate reality is that the VMS marginalia handwriting is not much weirder than most hands in the 12th-16th centuries. It is weird in some respects, but marginalia being weird and varied seems to have been the norm. Voynichese itself also shares many forms with the handwriting from that era, and almost all of the symbols can be found somewhere, in some context.
Thanks a lot. I guess studying the VMS really is an enormous time sink.
Although this time, I hoped that finding words so similar to the VMS "daiin" would at least amount to something. -
RE: Something strange about Cod. Sang. 1068
JoJo_Jost > 18-04-2026, 11:36 AM
The Voynich Manuscript relates to time the way a black hole relates to matter. -
RE: Something strange about Cod. Sang. 1068
rikforto > 18-04-2026, 12:26 PM
(18-04-2026, 11:36 AM)JoJo_Jost Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.The Voynich Manuscript relates to time the way a black hole relates to matter.
I'm having more fun than I imagine I would getting spaghettified
I mean, I've never been ripped apart by a black hole, so maybe I'm wrong---the manuscript has taught me to track my assumptions more carefully
But safe bet, I think -
RE: Something strange about Cod. Sang. 1068
Jimmy123 > 18-04-2026, 11:24 PM
So... Voynich Manuscript author randomly copied gothic scribes? But was also not a scribe? And was able to write like a scribe? But not in straight line?
This is very confusing -
RE: Something strange about Cod. Sang. 1068
Jorge_Stolfi > 19-04-2026, 12:43 AM
(18-04-2026, 11:24 PM)Jimmy123 Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.So... Voynich Manuscript author randomly copied gothic scribes? But was also not a scribe? And was able to write like a scribe? But not in straight line?
Most of the writing on You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. is not original. It is best explained as the attempt by a much later owner to restore some Voynichese text that was originally on that page but was erased by a big water spill and the subsequent mop-up. Signs of the damage are hard to see in normal light, as in the Beinecke scans, but the edges of the spill are clearly visible on UV light images.
The person who tried to repair the damage apparently was not familiar with the Voynichese alphabet, and tried to restore the faint traces that remained as if the text had been in Latin or some Germanic language. Thus, not surprisingly, while some of the restored letters look like Latin letters, others do not; and while some of the "words" that they form resemble Latin or Germanic words, others do not; and those words together do not make any sense.
The marginal writing at the top of You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. may also have the same story. It lies inside a water stain that is visible even in the Beinecke scans.
All the best, --stolfi -
RE: Something strange about Cod. Sang. 1068
eggyk > 19-04-2026, 12:51 AM
(18-04-2026, 11:24 PM)Jimmy123 Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.So... Voynich Manuscript author randomly copied gothic scribes? But was also not a scribe? And was able to write like a scribe? But not in straight line?
This is very confusing
What makes you say they are not a scribe?
The author may have drawn inspiration from their own hand (for non voynichese) or other people's hand when creating the script. Why not? They already knew how to make the movements. There are also no rule lines on the VMS, yet the text is reasonably straight compared to many manuscripts. So these points do not contradict eachother.
I'm 500+ years removed from the time period, and not a professional scribe, and even I would be quite capable of writing script that resembles some of the aspects talked about in this thread. -
RE: Something strange about Cod. Sang. 1068
MarcoP > 19-04-2026, 08:55 AM
(18-04-2026, 10:35 AM)eggyk Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
(18-04-2026, 10:18 AM)JustAnotherTheory Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Do these look Voynich-y to you?
In a way, yes. But that is not strange, and is common across many manuscripts of the era.
For example, I made a similar thread here about another manuscript (Deventer, Athenaeumbibliotheek : 111 E 7 KL) which also shares many of those features. Look at the "EVA-like examples" section and you'll see what I mean. Since then, I've seen many many more manuscripts with hands similar in many respects. The images you have posted look quite normal.
I agree, this is a rather typical 15th century gothic cursiva. A few years ago, I posted on Reddit some parallels from You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view..
Large image:
The fact that Voynichese glyphs derive from medieval abbreviated scripts was already mentioned by Mary D'Imperio in 1978 (The Voynich Manuscript: An Elegant Enigma, p.23) and she mentions the even earlier researchers Petersen and Freely:
”Mary D’Imperio Wrote:Similarities are clearly apparent between some Voynich symbols and certain Latin abbreviations in use at various times during the Middle Ages. These relationships have been investigated and exploited by several students, notably Petersen and Freely.
(18-04-2026, 10:35 AM)eggyk Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.The unfortunate reality is that the VMS marginalia handwriting is not much weirder than most hands in the 12th-16th centuries. It is weird in some respects, but marginalia being weird and varied seems to have been the norm.
Here I don’t fully agree. First, I don’t see why this should be unfortunate (or fortunate). Second, the fact that the marginalia script is not entirely unique allows for an investigation of the times and places where similar scripts were used, resulting in a limited set of good matches, much more specific than "most hands in the 12th-16th centuries". See for instance Koen's video where he goes in depth into the subject: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.. Interestingly, he found that the marginalia script appears to be from the same time-frame as the carbon dating of the parchment (early 15th Century). -
RE: Something strange about Cod. Sang. 1068
JustAnotherTheory > 19-04-2026, 09:19 AM
(19-04-2026, 12:51 AM)eggyk Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.I'm 500+ years removed from the time period, and not a professional scribe, and even I would be quite capable of writing script that resembles some of the aspects talked about in this thread.
Haha that's actually a very good point