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writing differences that I noticed
- writing differences that I noticed
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writing differences that I noticed
NineofTails > 28-07-2026, 12:54 AM
So, I am not sure if this counts as an actual probability, but as of 8r in the Voynich Manuscript, the writing shifts slightly, causing the backside of certain strokes to be a heavier, darker color than the start of the stroke. Has anyone else noticed this subtle difference in the writing? I noticed it in the High-Res PDF version of the Voynich Manuscript. -
RE: writing differences that I noticed
ololololo > 28-07-2026, 10:42 AM
Apparently, you're referring to the traces of retouching.
On the f8r, the letters (towards the end) are slightly worn out and more "dull," and it seems that at some point, some of them were almost completely worn out, so one of the owners decided to fix them. -
RE: writing differences that I noticed
oshfdk > 28-07-2026, 11:40 AM
(28-07-2026, 10:42 AM)ololololo Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Apparently, you're referring to the traces of retouching.
On the f8r, the letters (towards the end) are slightly worn out and more "dull," and it seems that at some point, some of them were almost completely worn out, so one of the owners decided to fix them.
Well, you said the r-word, get ready to face the retouching/retracing inquisition
I'm aware of only a handful of places in the manuscript where some retouching obviously took place, some examples in the image below. Most of them are consistent with running out of ink and overwriting the text immediately with fresh ink.
If you think you see obvious examples of retouching on f8r, let's have a closer look, could you show them on the images?
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RE: writing differences that I noticed
oshfdk > 28-07-2026, 11:47 AM
(28-07-2026, 12:54 AM)NineofTails Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.So, I am not sure if this counts as an actual probability, but as of 8r in the Voynich Manuscript, the writing shifts slightly, causing the backside of certain strokes to be a heavier, darker color than the start of the stroke. Has anyone else noticed this subtle difference in the writing? I noticed it in the High-Res PDF version of the Voynich Manuscript.
This is one of the great puzzles, I tend to think this is due to poorly mixed ink and/or non-sequential writing. In case of some kinds of inks their color/intensity change for some time after writing due to chemical reactions of the ink and the parchment, so maybe this contrast in the darkness of individual strokes wasn't obvious to the scribe immediately after finishing the page. Then some parts of ink reacted well with the parchment and some didn't react at all and faded over the course of several decades, producing this patchwork appearance.
I think someone found other manuscripts which exhibit similar behavior, there should be images in other threads somewhere. -
RE: writing differences that I noticed
ololololo > 28-07-2026, 12:24 PM
(28-07-2026, 11:40 AM)oshfdk Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
As I understand it, the author was referring to something like this:(28-07-2026, 10:42 AM)ololololo Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Apparently, you're referring to the traces of retouching.
On the f8r, the letters (towards the end) are slightly worn out and more "dull," and it seems that at some point, some of them were almost completely worn out, so one of the owners decided to fix them.
Well, you said the r-word, get ready to face the retouching/retracing inquisition
I'm aware of only a handful of places in the manuscript where some retouching obviously took place, some examples in the image below. Most of them are consistent with running out of ink and overwriting the text immediately with fresh ink.
If you think you see obvious examples of retouching on f8r, let's have a closer look, could you show them on the images?
The black arrows indicate the "bolder" letters. This could be a retouching, or the author could have underlined them to make them more visible. The orange arrow shows an example of a letter being erased, with the top line of the p almost invisible. -
RE: writing differences that I noticed
oshfdk > 28-07-2026, 12:37 PM
(28-07-2026, 12:24 PM)ololololo Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.The black arrows indicate the "bolder" letters. This could be a retouching, or the author could have underlined them to make them more visible. The orange arrow shows an example of a letter being erased, with the top line of the p almost invisible.
To positively demonstrate retouching/retracing one needs to show obvious parts of underlying strokes, as clearly seen in my examples above. One may argue that these have faded away to nothing, but given a full page of all grades of fading it's hard to believe this, if this was retouching there should be very obvious traces of previous writing in many places.
The coincidence of bold (wider) strokes with darker ink is possible to explain with poorly mixed ink. Different fractions of ink may have different viscosity and flow differently, the same movement of the quill would produce wider strokes flooding the parchment a bit.
Overall, I'm not sure there is one single explanation for these features that would satisfy everybody. My main point is that retouching/retracing, while the first thing that comes to mind, doesn't explain the visible absence of previous writing. Especially considering we have multispectral images now for a few folios. -
RE: writing differences that I noticed
ololololo > 28-07-2026, 12:46 PM
(28-07-2026, 12:37 PM)oshfdk Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
But it's most likely a problem with the ink. The authors had issues with it, and a notable example is Herbal B, which is too dull and "watery".(28-07-2026, 12:24 PM)ololololo Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.The black arrows indicate the "bolder" letters. This could be a retouching, or the author could have underlined them to make them more visible. The orange arrow shows an example of a letter being erased, with the top line of the p almost invisible.
To positively demonstrate retouching/retracing one needs to show obvious parts of underlying strokes, as clearly seen in my examples above. One may argue that these have faded away to nothing, but given a full page of all grades of fading it's hard to believe this, if this was retouching there should be very obvious traces of previous writing in many places.
The coincidence of bold (wider) strokes with darker ink is possible to explain with poorly mixed ink. Different fractions of ink may have different viscosity and flow differently, the same movement of the quill would produce wider strokes flooding the parchment a bit.
Overall, I'm not sure there is one single explanation for these features that would satisfy everybody. My main point is that retouching/retracing, while the first thing that comes to mind, doesn't explain the visible absence of previous writing. Especially considering we have multispectral images now for a few folios. -
RE: writing differences that I noticed
oshfdk > 28-07-2026, 12:58 PM
(28-07-2026, 12:46 PM)ololololo Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.But it's most likely a problem with the ink. The authors had issues with it, and a notable example is Herbal B, which is too dull and "watery".
Maybe the authors had You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.?
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RE: writing differences that I noticed
ololololo > 28-07-2026, 01:27 PM
(28-07-2026, 12:58 PM)oshfdk Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
Maybe...(28-07-2026, 12:46 PM)ololololo Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.But it's most likely a problem with the ink. The authors had issues with it, and a notable example is Herbal B, which is too dull and "watery".
Maybe the authors had You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.?
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RE: writing differences that I noticed
Mauro > 28-07-2026, 01:37 PM
(28-07-2026, 12:58 PM)oshfdk Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Maybe the authors had You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.?
Maybe the author(s) made himself his own inks, parchment and quills for ritual purposes, with the expected results from a freshman in the arts. Iirc, for instance You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. (but I guess they're much later) insist on the 'wizard' to make himself all his own instruments and ingredients. Just a funny thought!