Dimensions and trimming of the MS

[ReneZ]

I have it on Rene's authority that the dimensions of the Vms are as made; that there's no sign of later trimming.

This must have been long ago, as I can't actually remember this, but the point is sufficiently interesting to start a dedicated topic.

Manuscripts are occasionally trimmed when rebound, but any significant trimming of the Voynich MS can be excluded, because of the foldouts. These would have been cut.
One can also see that the edges are irregular, and pages are of somewhat different sizes.

On the other hard, there are numerous cases where at least the bottom edge of a page has been partially trimmed.
I believe that onYou are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.  the drawing at the bottom was clipped.

Here, one also sees a feature in the scan that was mentioned years ago, by Dana Scott, namely that some edges of the parchment are much lighter in colour. In this case, this seems to indicate a more recent cut. We don't know when it was done, of course.

With respect to the dimensions of the Voynich MS, in 2010 I did the exercise of comparing it with various known herbal manuscripts. I put it next to 22 other MSs in a powerpoint file, all at the scale 1:10.
I include the figure here:

   

The legend is:

A = Med.Gr.1, ONB, Vienna
B = Voss.Lat. Q.9, Leiden
C = Graecus 1, Napoli
D = MS Grec 2179, BN Paris
E = MS Plut. 73.41, Bibl. Medicea Laurenziana, Florence
F = CLM 337, Munich
G = Ms M 652, Pierpont Morgan library
H = MS Bodley 130
J = MS Harley 1585
K = Cod. Vind. 93, ONB, Vienna
L = MS or. Arabe 4947, BN Paris
M = MS Plut. 73.16, Bibl. Medicea Laurenziana, Florence
N = Egerton 747
O = MS Lat. 6823, BN Paris
P = Ms.Canon Misc.408, Bodleian, Oxford
Q = MS 459, Bibl. Casanatense, Roma
R = MS Aldini 211, Pavia
S = Egerton 2020
T = Chigi F. VII 159, BA Vaticana
U = MS 106, Bibl. Dip. Di Botanica dell'Universita, Florence
V = MS Lat 17844, BN Paris
W = MS Hebr. 1199, BN Paris
Z = Voynich MS.


While the Voynich MS is relatively small, there are still smaller MSs.
Also, MSs "R" and "U" are almost exactly the same size as the Voynich MS, and both are 'alchemical herbals'.

[Emma May Smith]

Register or login to view the content

[Diane]

Register or login to view the content

[-JKP-]

Register or login to view the content

[Diane]

Register or login to view the content

[-JKP-]

Register or login to view the content

[davidjackson]

Register or login to view the content

[ReneZ]

Register or login to view the content

[Sam G]

Register or login to view the content

[Diane]

Register or login to view the content