RE: How much time and effort may have been put in?
Koen G > 04-06-2026, 10:02 PM
Oh, you get all kinds of things from the early modern period on. But the other half of the argument I'm trying to make is that before the printing press, the scope of what a "book" could be was much more limited.
The reasons I can think of are:
- for selling (by commission)
- for practical reasons, passing on instructions on how to do things...
- for devotional reasons
Of course, those often overlap. Many of the books that are sold are practical, devotional or both. In commissions by rich patrons, there is also an artistic component: richly illustrated books with gold leaf are beautiful to look at.
The VM was likely not made to please the esthetic needs of a rich patron. It is not overtly devotional. The images appear like the should be practical (identify plants, know when to bathe, how to mix up ingredients...), but there's a good chance they aren't. And if the text contains meaning, there's a good chance its system needlessly complex.
In short, if we want to discuss why someone made the VM pre-printing-press, we find ourselves fully in the realm of speculation. Which can be useful, but will very quickly groan under stacked assumptions.