{$I=S $Q=T $P=X} # Last edited on 1998-12-04 02:40:59 by stolfi # # Identification: # # Title: "Last page" # Page: f116v = TX (Rene) = p234 (Stolfi) # Folio: f116 # Panels: f116v # Bifolio: bT1 = f103+f116 # Quire: T (Rene) = XVIII (Beinecke) # # Shown in Plate 15 of Tiltman's article # [item 10 in Jim Reeds's bibliography]. # # Attributes: # # Language: ? (Currier) # Hand: ? (Currier) # Subsets: S (Rene), xxx (Stolfi) # Colors: ??? (Reeds) # # Description: # # This page is blank except for four lines of text at the top # (numbered "0" to "3") and some drawings at the top left corner. # # The text is rougly justified against the left margin, and ragged # on the right. Line 0 is flush against the top edge of the vellum, # lines 1-3 lie about 1/2 inch below it, with normal interline # spacing. Except for two Voynichese words at the beginning of line # 3, the text is written in a peculiar script ("Michitonese") that # seems to be intermediate between ordinary (Latin) alphabet and the # VMs script. The handwriting is irregular and not very readable. # The letters in line 0 is somewhat smaller but apparently in the # same handwriting as the rest. # # The area next to the upper left corner is hevily stained and # wrinkled. There is a large hole in the vellum, 2-3mm wide, near # the upper left corner, about 2cm from the edges. Lines 1 and 2 # of the text start right next to the hole. # # In the dark region between the hole and the left edge, roughly # aligned with text line #2, there is the drawing of a four-legged # animal, resembling a dog with round ears, short hais, and a fat # but pointed tail. The animal is facing left, with the snout right # against the vellum's edge. # # Below the animal is a female nymph (with breasts), naked except for some # simple hat. She is facing seems to be seated on a sloping surface, # right at the edge of the dark area, with arms stretched sideways # and down. # # Above the anumal there is a drawing of an unidentified bulbous object. # # There is a large question mark at the right margin, aligned with # line 3 but well beyound its end. It shows up in Newbold's reproduction. # # In one reproduction of this page there is a very faint line of modern-style # digits below part of the first line. Each letter (but not the "+" # signs) has a single digit below it; except that one can see also # the numerals "10" and "13", each squeezed under a single letter. # (Part of the line is unreadable, so "11" and "12" could be there # too.) However these digits were probably scribbled on the copy, # since they do not show up in Newbold's reproduction. # # Comments: # # THE SCRIPT # # Jacques Guy [] mentions the Michitonese script resembles that of a # 1460 German manuscript in Latin reproduced in [1, p.78]. In that # sample, there are letters that look like Voynich 8, but they stand # for "d" not "s". Final "s" is written like the modern "es-zet". # # Jacques [29 Mar 1996] also suggest that "ct" coudl be a "t" as # found in Benaventan and Visigothic manuscripts, and "9" could # be "us". # # Rene Zandbergen [27 Mar 1996] confirms similarity of Michitonese # with another German manuscript from 1440, in German [2]. In that # sample too `d' was written as `8', `so' was written "just like in # the VMS(?)", and `Venus' was written `Ven9'. He adds later [28 Oct # 98] that the f116v text "looks more like a German hand than # anything else. Not Kircher's, not Marci's but earlier." # # Some of the "Michitonese" letters seem purposefully distorted to # resemble Voynichese letters. # # Denis Mardle [19 Apr 97] notes that the Michitonese writing is # "not unlike" the small extraneous writing on f17r. # # Stolfi [01 Nov 98] notes that the Michitonese script resembles # that of the "month names" in the center of the "zodiac" diagrams. # For example, the last character of line 1 is similar to the first # character of the Pisces label (f70v2). If the two sets are indeed # by the same hand, then the month names give valuable clues on the # Michitonese alphabet. # # THE TEXT # # Before seeing what the text actually looks like, Stolfi [5 Feb # 1998] conjectured that the text could be an anagram, given that it # resembles a "Scrabble end-game". Unfortunately anagrams of that # size are practically unsolvable without a clue. # # Common opinion is that the f116v text is scribblings by a would-be # decipherer. However this theory does not seem compatible with the # "ordinary" appearance of the text, and does not explain the # normal-looking Voynichese words ("oror sheey" in EVA) inserted in # the text. # # Rene [5 Feb 1998] conjectures that the "would-be decipherer" is # the same person who wrote the character tables on f1r. Rene also # remarks that one can exclude Dee, Kelley, Askham, Ricci, and # Bacon, since the third line is very likely German. # # Andras Kornai [25 Nov 1998] says that says that "-d" is the 2nd # person posessive ending in Hungarian, but the text does not seem # to be Hungarian. # # Newbold [1921] reads the first line, rather arbitrarily, as "michiton # oladabas multos te tccr cerc portas" (and ignores the other three). # After many arbitrary manipulations he gets a "cipher key" out of it. # # Brumbaugh reads the text as "(...)con olada ba", interprets # "con...ba" as an anagram of "bacon", and turns "olada" into # 'rodgd' by adding 3 to each letter. Brumbaugh then says "rodgd" # means "roger"; but he concludes that this evidence was planted by # Dee/Kelly. (Reported by Rene [2 Feb 1998].) # # Jim Reeds [15 Apr 94] quotes Erwin Panofsky [4] who reads the # second line as "so nim geismi[l]ch o", meaning, "... take goats # milk, or..." # # Jacques Guy [] remarks that the the word that Newbold and others # read "valst" or "valsch" is actually "valde" ("strongly, very") in # the 1460 german manuscript [1, p.78]. # # Rene, tongue in cheek [15 Apr 1998], notes that the mapping # {ol->d, m->p, ch->e, d->b, b->n} turns "michiton oladabas" into # "pieiton d abanas", i.e. "Pietro d'Abano" modulo transcriber # errors. # # Rene [07 Feb 96], looking at D'Imperio's photocopy, thinks that # there might be at least one (unreadable) letter before "michiton". # # Rene [13 Mar 1996] noted that the text begins with "mich" and ends # with "nich", suggesting it was written by "MICHael voyNICH". # # Rene [5 Feb 1998] notes that some Voynichese words are similar to # "oladabas", e.g. the label on the NE corner of f67v2 ("otararain"). # Dennis [28 Oct 1998] suggests "otardar" from f67r1 (outer circle, # at 11:00). # # Rene [28 Oct 1998] also suggests f76v.P.19 ("orar.sheey") as a # possible source for line 3. Stolfi observes that there is also # an "aror.sheey" on f104r.P.28. # # Stolfi [] remarks that "Olazabal" or "Olaz bal" is a common mame # in Spanish-speaking areas, probably of Basque origin. # # THE DRAWINGS # # Rene [18 Sep 1997] thinks the animal looks like a horse. Stolfi [] # thought it could be a dog. # # Rene also observes [] that the nymph on f116v looks very much like the # "dead" nymph on page ???---which also has extraneous writing, possibly # by the same hand. # # References: # # [1] Joyce Whalley "The Art of Calligraphy -- Western Europe and America" # Bloomsbury Books, London 1980 # # [2] Manuscript Palat. Lat. 1369. Cited in [3]. # # [3] Fritz Saxl, book about astronomical and astrological images in medieval # manuscripts. # # [4] Erwin Panofsky, in a letter to W. F. Friedman, 19 March 1954, # now in Marshall Library. # ## {} # The "michiton" paragraph # Last edited on 1998-12-19 23:09:32 by stolfi # # "U" transcription by J.Stolfi from a scanned image. # Only the first two words of line 3 look like Voynichese. # # Transcription uses the "best matches" from Rene's German alphabet (RGA), # with the following additions/deviations: # # 8 similar to RGA "d" (mainline variant), but the upper loop is smaller # than the lower loop, and almost straight above it. # … An "a" with a faint dot over it (probably noise). # ‡ A "c" with a vertical serif at the top end. # h very much like RGA "h", but with open bottom # ¡ A straight, short, thick descending stroke with a # straight, long, thin "acute accent"; like # an EVA "r" but with straight plume # j a partially obscured glyph; what can be seen looks # like a printed lowercase "j", lower on # the baseline and slanting to the left. # L Similar to RGA "l" but more angular---a thin and tall triangle, # closed at the bottom and not connected to the neighbors. # M like a large Greek "epsilon" or a "3" on its side, with # first stroke turned inwards, the last slightly outwards. # m with inclined strokes, like "\/\/\". # n with inclined strokes, like "\/\". # ò like an "o" with a circumflex *under* it; or an EVA "l" # with very short "legs". # ) like a small close parenthesis, extending slightly below # the baseline; very much like the variant RGA "o" # (bottom line of Rene's scan) # p has an exaggerated "barb" on the left side of the # stem. # r like a Greek lowercase "nu". # – an "u" or "n" with a macron or overline (which may be noise). # X Like RGA "x", but with the two strokes ligated on the right. # y similar to RGA "y", but more like a Greek "eta". # + like a math "+", raised so as to stand on the baseline. # ^ partially obscured; the bottom part has two "feet" # on the baseline, very close together. # # In the "digits" line, "a" trough "d" mean "10" through "13", # each numeral being squeezed into single letter slot. # # Line 0 Roman: p**labo*.pinŠn.pati*er= # # Line 1 Roman: nuchiton.ola6…ba8.+.m–Lcò8.+.te.+,tar.cev‡,+.porta8.+M++- # Line 1.5 Digits: .1234567.489a9bc*.*4**854d*.!**..,***.5545- # # Line 2 Roman: siX+*j–ariX+moriX+,v¡X+abta+ma+ria+- # The "j–" is an "m" rather out of shape. # The "+" in "ma+ria" is raised and takes no space between the "a" and "r". # oror.sheey!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!= # Line 3 Roman: ****.*****.val8e^,vbreY-{gap}so.nim.gas.mich.o= # The "8" is small and tilted to the right; it may be an EVA "d" # or a Roman "a" with some noise. # The final "o" may be a spot, or a vellum defect.