voynich manuscript - was the author left-handed

7/17/2019 Voynich Manuscript - Was the Author Left-handed

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Voynich Manuscript: was the author left-handed?

Figure 1

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For the past century, the best and brightest brains in cryptography have attempted to

decipher the Voynich Manuscript. So far no one has succeeded in cracking the code.Under these circumstances, one approach is to look at the document and let it speak for

its self, ignoring earlier ideas relating to its origin. I therefore took a careful look at all the

drawings, while trying to avoid becoming confused by some of their bizarrecharacteristics. he first thing that I noticed was that the cosmological drawings of the

sun, moon and stars in folios !"v# and !$r% &'igure #, top row( were very similar tocarvings of the sun and the moon and stars on a very fine )fro*+ortuguese ivoryhorn&#( o.#-# &'igure #, bottom row(&I( he horn was decorated with other uropean

motifs, including the arms of the /ouse of )viz. his indicated that the horn was intended

for 0ing manuel I of +ortugal and was carved some time during his reign&#123*#3%#(

&%(, i.e. around the beginning of the #!th century.

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Figure 2

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Sun and moon symbols are not )frican in origin. 4assani and 'agg suggested that

they may have been copied from a drawing in Liber Chronicarum, first published in #125

&'igure %(. 6n a recent trip to Italy, I found that these icons are popular in Southern Italy,

however all the moons had crescent shaped faces resembling the moon shown in 'igure %and not round faced like the moon on the horn or on the folio !$r# drawing. he use of

these symbols in Italy date back over two thousand years to 7reek and 8oman

mythology. he sun represented )pollo and the moon 9iana.

Iused the Internet to check for #!th century sources using sun, moon and star motifs.

he surprising result was arot cards. hree cards in arot:s ma;or arcana represent theSun, Moon and a Star. )rabs from orth )frica introduced playing cards into Spain andItaly around #5"2. hese cards were the standard deck of 3% cards the same as decks in

use today&5(. ) arot deck also has four suites, each with thirteen cards, but with an

additional face card per suit and a fool &;oker( &minor arcana( and %# trump cards &ma;orarcana(, i.e. "$ cards in all&II(. he game originated in orthern Italy and the oldest

surviving incomplete deck was painted, c<#13- for the Visconti* Sforza family of Milan.

)fter the 'rench invaded Milan in #122, the game probably spread into 'rance andSwitzerland. here is no evidence that the nglish ever played with arot cards, but they

did en;oy playing and gambling with regular playing cards. It was during the #$th century

that playing the arot card game died out and the cards were used for fortune telling.



















Figure 3

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Figure 5 compares three e=amples of the sun from #3th century arot cards&III( with

drawings of Voynich Manuscript suns found on folios !$v5, !"v and $3v#. ) sun cardfrom the Visconti*Sforza set &c<#13-(, shows the face of the 8oman Sun 7od, )pollo.

he sun in the Voynich Manuscript folio !$ v#, also has )pollo:s face. his is unusual

and suggests that the author of the Voynich Manuscript may have copied this image of thesun from the Visconti*Sforza set or a similar set of tarot cards.

Figure 4Full Image

Figure 1 gives a comparison of two #3th century moon tarot cards and moons from

two surviving early #!th century uncut woodblock sheets of arot cards, with e=amplesof moons drawn on folios !$r5, !$r#, !$r% and $"r%. he similarity between the arot

moons and the Voynich Manuscript moons are not as close as the sun icons. he drawings









of the small stars on folios !$r5, !$r# and !$r% are very like the carvings of the little stars

on the )fro*+ortuguese ivory horn o.#-#.

Fig 6Full Image





Figure 5

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Figure 3 shows e=amples of #3th century tarot star cards and star icons from Voynich

Manuscript folios !2r and !"r%. )gain the likeness between the arot cards and the

drawings of Voynich Manuscript stars are close. )nother folio, folio 3"v, resembles the

wheel of fortune card from the Visconti*Sforza arot deck &'igure !(. 4oth drawingsrepresent the four stages of man> childhood, youth, adult and old age, showing the

inevitability of life and death. he wheel was a medieval instrument of torture so this

drawing could have a double meaning indicating that man has little control over thefickleness of fate.





Figure 7

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W hile researching the origin of arot cards, I was fortunate to find 9r. 8obert

6:eill:s web site, Iconology of arot cards&IV(. /e suggests that the images of the sun,

moon and star used on #3th century arot cards, were probably copied from #1th centurywoodcuts used to illustrate 9ante:s 9ivine ?omedy. 9ante wrote the book between the

years #5-$*#5%#. It has many illustrations that may be the source of the symbols used for

the sun, moon and star arot cards. In fact as 'igure " shows, drawings of the moon used

in 9ante:s 9ivine ?omedy are even closer to the images used for the Voynich Manuscriptand )fro*+ortuguese horn o.#-# than those used on early moon arot cards.

The purpose of the drawings of suns, moons and stars in the Voynich Manuscript is

unclear. hey do not appear to have any cosmological significance, nor do they appear tohave been intended as cards for a potential pack of arot cards. he drawing of a sun with

)pollo:s face, in folio !$ v#, could indicate an association with 8oman mythology. he

sun, moon and star &representing the planet Venus( could also be related to alchemy,where these symbols represent gold, silver and copper respectively. hese icons are also

symbols used by secret societies like the 'ree Masons.

There were many Italians involved in the #3th and early #!th centuries with

+ortuguese voyages to @est )frica, India, 4razil and the 6rient, well known people

like ?hristopher ?olumbus&1(, 4artolomeo Marchionni&3(, )merigo Vespucci&!(, 7iovanni

of mpoli&"(, and )ndrea ?orsali&$(. )s early as #15! the ste court in 'errara, orthernItaly, was using a small press to print sheets of playing cards. 'igure 1 shows an e=ample

of a block of a few #3th century printed arot cards. )lthough only e=amples of

e=pensive cards have survived, card playing was popular and cheap decks sold for


http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/learn/robert_oneill.shtml

























reasonable prices. arly e=plorers may have entertained themselves during long voyages

playing various card games. In fact the )frican carvers from 7uinea may have seen these

cards, copied some of their drawings and fashioned their ivory saltcellars after thecupsAchalices &clubs( that were used as pips on the early Italian playing and arot cards.

his would account for the sun, moon and star motifs on the )fro*+ortuguese horn

o.#-#.

Figure 8

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Figure 9Full Image

It was e=citing to discover the probable source of the little nude bathing beauties who

are cavorting in pools of green slime on some of the Voynich Manuscript folios &the biological section of the manuscript( )s they say, one thing leads to another. )n )fro*

+ortuguese ivory horn led to arot cards and om adfor Bittle:s arot history site, to 9r.

8obert 6:eill:s arot site, showing that 9ante:s Divine Comedy, and from there to Cean

Seznec:s The Survival of the Pagan God &V( and an illustration from a #1th centurymanuscript, Ovide Moralise&2(, showing +allas watching the nude Muses bathing in a

pond. 'igure $ shows a comparison of 'olio "3r from the Voynich Manuscript with this

#1th century woodblock. 'igure 2 compares a second drawing from Ovide Moralise that

depicts a pregnant ?allisto being chased from a pond by 9iana and her nymphs with folio$1r. Ovide Moralise may have inspired these drawings in the Voynich Manuscript. Cim

8eed noted that in the #2"% +rinceton edition of The Survival of the Pagan God , a picturelabeled ‘Venus Luuria! &VI( reminded him of the Voynich Manuscript:s balneological

drawings&VII(. his picture was taken from a manuscript of the D'ulgentius Metaforalias:,

Vatican, +alat, lat #"%!, and shows the goddess Venus swimming in a pool with some

fish. his is additional evidence that these drawings may be related to 8omanA7reekmythology.















One problem I have always had in assigning authorship of the Voynich Manuscript to

8oger 4acon, are these DbiologicalA balneological: drawings. I cannot believe that a verylearned 'ranciscan priest, scholar and scientist like 8oger 4acon would have made

drawings of this type. /e. possessed one of the most commanding intellects of his ageand is regarded as the founder of modern science. hese drawings have a childlikeEuality, and are probably the product of a gifted child copying pictures from a book he

was reading.

A 'rench 4enedictine monk, +ierre 4ercheure &#%2-*#5!%(, in #51-, wrote 6vide

Moralise, an epic poem that is an e=purgated version of 6vid:s Metamorphosis. his

poem was widely read and is considered to have influenced ?haucer:s writing of

?anterbury ales. 4ersuire met +etrarch, the 'lorentine poet and philosopher &#5-1*

#5"1( in )vignon around #5%- and again in +aris in #51-. arot cards were originallycalled Dcarta da trionfi: and the Visconte*Sforza arot pack may have been based on

+etrarch:s classic poem I rionfi&VIII(. +etrarch may have encouraged the reading of

6vide Moralise in Italy. )n nglish 'ranciscan monk, Cohn 8idewall, in the first half ofthe#1th century, wrote 'ulgentius Metaforalias, another moralization of mythology.

The above observations lead to the following conclusions concerning the authorship

of the Voynich Manuscript>

• 8oger 4acon died in #%21. /e probably never saw a pack of playing cards and the

arot card game was invented c<#3- years after his death. he 4enedictine monk,

+ierre 4ersuire wrote 6vide Moralise in #51-. he manuscript with the woodcutof +allas and the muses would have been from an even later date. 8oger 4acon

could not have read the treatise, D'ulgentius Metaforalias:, written fifty years after

his death, by his fellow country man Cohn 8idewall. 8oger 4acon is therefore anunlikely author of the Voynich Manuscript unless he like Bazarus rose from the

dead.

• ?ould Cohn 9ee &#3%"*#!-$( and or his Euestionable scrier, dward 0elley, have

forged the Voynich ManuscriptF his I consider unlikely. Cohn 9ee, in spite of hisinvolvement in scrying, was a learned man with an e=tensive library including

manuscripts written by 8oger 4acon. If he had forged the Voynich Manuscript, he

would have ensured authenticity by using material copied from 8oger 4acon:s

own writings. )s 8ob ?hurchill has pointed out, the Voynich Manuscript bearslittle similarity to any of 8oger 4acon:s works&IG(. Cohn 9ee was too intelligent to

forge a D8oger 4acon: manuscript that included copies of drawings from very

well known #1th century books or a #3th century card game.

• his argument also applies to dward 0elley, who as a close associate of Cohn

9ee, would have had access to 8oger 4acon:s books. Beonardo da Vinci owned a








printed copy of one of 8oger 4acon:s books&G(, showing that his writings were

well known in urope.

• Some people have considered the possibility that @ilfred Voynich forged the

Voynich Manuscript. @ilfred Voynich:s business was in buying and selling old

manuscripts and again it is unlikely that he would have copied from 'rench and

Italian manuscripts written after 8oger 4acon:s death or seen early arot cardslike the Visconti*Sforza pack.

• If the Voynich Manuscript was not written by 8oger 4acon and not forged by

Cohn 9ee, dward 0elley or @ilfred Voynich, then whoF he manuscript has

never been dated. Cim 8eed suggests that the vellum used for the manuscript wasmanufactured between #13-*#1!-&GI(. he limited selection of clothes and hats,

in the Voynich Manuscript, are compatible with the dress of common people

between the dates #13- and #33-&GII(. 4rumbaugh claims that the archer in theSagittarian astrological chart is wearing a 'lorentine hat&GIII(. he association of

some Voynich Manuscript folios depicting 9iana and ?allisto and +allas and the

Muses, suggests a link to #3th century 'lorence. he intellectual and artistic elite

of the city were obsessed with eoplatonism, antiEuity and 8oman and 7reekmythology&GIV(.

• )lthough the Voynich Manuscript, with the e=ception of the last page, has no

recognizable alphabet, the script does show the influence of the Dhumanistichand:, a style of writing that appeared in 'lorence ;ust before #1-- &GV(. Statistical

analysis using Hipf:s Baw indicates that the Voynich te=t is not a random

seEuence of letters and is probably not a forgery using a purely random series ofsymbols. he entropy measurement indicates a low level language&GVI(. he

author probably had the limited vocabulary of an individual with no formal

education.

• he drawings were done before the te=t. he smooth left margin&GVII( indicates

that it was written from left to right. ) Euill pen was used and as e=pected, the ink pattern shows dark to light patterning as the writing moved from left to right.

/owever in a few cases this pattern was reversed, indicating retouching or partialright to left writing&GVIII(. he Voynich Manuscript has very few corrections, and

the writing demonstrates speed and fluency. he cosmological drawings indicate

that the author was a skilled draftsman.

• If @ilfred Voynich considered 8oger 4acon a suitable #5th century author of the

Voynich Manuscript, because he may have wished to hide scientific, astrological

or cosmological knowledge from the prying eyes of the church, then Beonardo da

Vinci would be an eEually suitable candidate from #3th century 'lorenceAItaly. Inspite of limited schooling, he would have read 9ante:s 9ivine ?omedia &a must

for all school boys of his time(, he would have seen the Visconti*Sforza cardswhen he worked at the Sforza court in Milan from c<#1$#*#3--. /e owned acopy of 6vid:s Metamorphosis and +etrach:s books&GIG(. @hether he knew or

read 6vide Moralise is not known. /e was by nature secretive, and en;oyed

pranks and riddles. )s Serge 4ramly&GG( rightly observed, Beonardo had thewhiff of sulfur about him and probably had much to hide from the Vatican and the

prying eyes of the InEuisition.



























• 6n my earlier web site, DBeonardo de Vinci and the Voynich Manuscript: I

suggested that a young Beonardo da Vinci was the author of this manuscript. I still

consider him to be a likely candidate. Beonardo was left*handed, so if it can beshown that the author of the Voynich Manuscript was right*handed this would

e=clude him as an author. 8ight*handed people naturally writeAdraw from left to

right. /atching strokes used in drawings by right*handed people start at the top ofthe stroke and move down as the pen moves from left to right with each additional

stroke. Beft*handed Beonardo generally began hatching from the lower right,

coursing upward while moving from right to left i.e. the reverse of right*handedhatching. he starting point of a hatching stroke can be determined by the point

on the line with the greatest accumulation of ink &GGI(. I therefore checked all the

drawings in the Voynich Manuscript for e=amples of hatching and found one in'olio $1r. )s 'igure #- shows, the author of the Voynich Manuscript was left*

handed. he famous DSunflower:, folio 55v, also shows left*handed hatching.

'igure ## compares an authentic e=ample of Beonardo:s hatching&GGII( with a

section of 'olio $1r, using only the blue channel of )dobe +hotoshop for both

drawings. 4oth of these e=amples show a slight right hook on the lower end ofsome of the hatching lines, confirming that the author of the Voynich Manuscript

was left*handed. Cim 'inn&GGIII( has observed that the spiral image in folio !$v5may be a mirror image representation of our gala=y, the Milky @ay.

Figure 10Full Image

Figure

11Full Image

• @hile the left*handed hatching and a mirror image drawing does not prove that

Beonardo is the author of the Voynich Manuscript, this is valuable supportiveevidence. he #3th century belonged to a time in history when left*handedness

was considered the devils work and lefties were forced to use their right hand.

'or e=ample, Michelangelo, another lefty, trained himself to draw with his right

hand. Beonardo wrote almost e=clusively in mirror image script from right to left,














but on occasion, when it was necessary for drawings like maps to be labeled, he

wrote in normal script&GGIV(. /e was probably ambide=trous and during his youth

made to write, like other left*handed children, with his right hand.

• Figure 12Full

Imagehe Voynich Manuscript was probably Beonardo:s first manuscript, and in

spite of the childlike Euality of some of the drawings, inspired from books he readduring his limited schooling, the penmanship and the drafting of the astrological

and cosmological drawings are the work of a potential genius. It is not surprising

to find that Beonardo invented a cipher that no one has been able to decode or thathe produced a manuscript that has fascinated and confounded several generations

of scholars, intellectuals and cryptologists&GGV( 'olio $!r1 is a drawing that could

almost be regarded as his signature. ?ompare this drawing with the drawingDVinci )cadamie: &'igure #%(. here is a distinct similarity in style between the

two drawings.

#. J back )fro*+ortuguese Ivories * he first trade goods from @est )frica sold inurope at the beginning of the #!th century, were the )fro*+ortuguese Ivories,

e=Euisitely carved spoons forks, saltcellars, py=es and horns that are found today

in museums in urope and )merica.%. J back #3th century +ortugal * In the #3th century the +ortuguese were seeking a

trade route around )frica to India and the Spice Islands. his resulted in the

e=ploration of the @est ?oast of )frica where gold was located at l Mina. hey

traded for gold, slaves and ivory with the local )frican people.5. J back arot cards * arly Italian decks used suites represented by staves, cups,

swords and coins. arly nglish decks used the traditional clubs, diamonds hearts

and spades.

1. J back ?hristopher ?olumbus * sailed with the +ortuguese to @est )frica andlived in Madeira before he discovered )merica.

3. J back 4artolomeo Marchionni * a 'lorentine banker who lived in Bisbon andhelped bank role the +ortuguese voyages of e=ploration. /e was also involved

with trade in @est )frica, particularly 7uinea and 4enin where these )fro*

+ortuguese ivories were made.





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!. J back )merigo Vespucci * a 'lorentine business man, who sailed with

?hristopher ?olumbus, e=plored the coast of South )merica and proposed that a

new continent had been discovered.". J back 7iovanni of mpoli * a 'lorentine employee of 4artolomeo Marchionni

who sailed on a number of +ortuguese voyages to India and beyond.

$. J back )ndrea ?orsali * an Italian trader, who was the first person to describe theSouthern ?ross.

2. J back 6vide Moralise * ?od "1% of the 4ibliotheEue de Byon.

I. J back 4assini, . and 'agg, @., #2$$, )frica and the 8enaissance )rt in Ivory,+restel*Verlag, Munich, p.#%-, 2%, 25 and #-!.

II. J back Bittle,. ., #222, he /ermitage> arot

/istory. http>AAwww.tarothermit.comIII. J back +ictures of early tarot cards were obtained

from>http>AAwww.frooldbooks.orgAViscontiSforzaarot?ardshttp>AAwww.beinicke.li

brary.yale.eduAdlKcrosscole=Asearch=ecG?.aspFsrchtypeLcurpageL3http>AAwww.tarotpedia.com.wikiAcarysheet

IV. J back 6:eill, 8., )eclectic

arot, http>AAwww.aeclectic.netAtarotAlearnArobertKoneill.shtml

V. J back Seznec, C.,%--1, he Survival of the +agan 7ods, /arper orchbooks, ewNork, p.##-.

VI. J back 8eed, C., #223, in /istorical +recedents for the Voynich

Manuscript,http>AAwww.geocities.comActesibosAvoynichAprecednt.html, p".VII. J back Seznec, C.,%--1, he Survival of the +agan 7ods, /arper orchbooks, ew

Nork, p.#-".

VIII. J back Molakley, 7., he arot

cards, www.geocities.comAcartedetrionfiAmiscAmoakley.htmlIG. J back 0ennedy 7. and ?hurchill 8., %--1, he Voynich Manuscript, Inner

raditions, Vermont, p.%!#.

G. J back Mac?urdy, ., he otebooks of Beonardo da Vinci, 9efinitive dition in6ne Volume, he ew Nork ime, p.##"#.

GI. J back 8eed, C., ibid p##.

GII. J back 9:Imperio M.. #2"$, he Voynich Manuscript> )n legant nigma,)egean +ark +ress, p.!1.

GIII. J back 0ennedy 7. and ?hurchill 8., ibid, p.#$1.

GIV. J back Seznec, C. ibid, p. 22*##2.GV. J back 9:Imperio M.. ibid, p.#3.

GVI. J back 0ennedy 7. and ?hurchill 8., ibid, p.%32*%!-.

GVII. J back @ikipedia, VoynichManuscript, http>AAen.wikipedia.orgAwikiAVoynichKmanuscript

GVIII. J back )ntonini, ?.,%---, Visit to

4eneicke,http>AAwww.voynich.netA)rchA%---A##AmsgA---#3.html.p1.

GIG. J back Mac?urdy, ., he otebooks of Beonardo da Vinci, he ew Nork imes, p.##!5*##"5.

GG. J back 4ramly, S., #221, Beonardo the )rtist and the Man, +engiun 4ooks.





http://www.edithsherwood.com/voynich_author/index.php#ref_backlink1


http://www.tarothermit.com/


http://www.frooldbooks.org/ViscontiSforzaTarotCards

http://www.beinicke.library.yale.edu/dl_crosscolex/searchExecXC.asp?srchtype=&curpage=5



http://www.tarotpedia.com.wiki/carysheet





http://www.geocities.com/ctesibos/voynich/precednt.html



http://www.edithsherwood.com/voynich_author/www.geocities.com/cartedetrionfi/misc/moakley.html










http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voynich_manuscript


http://www.voynich.net/Arch/2000/11/msg/00015.html.p4









http://www.tarothermit.com/


http://www.frooldbooks.org/ViscontiSforzaTarotCards




http://www.tarotpedia.com.wiki/carysheet





http://www.geocities.com/ctesibos/voynich/precednt.html



http://www.edithsherwood.com/voynich_author/www.geocities.com/cartedetrionfi/misc/moakley.html










http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voynich_manuscript


http://www.voynich.net/Arch/2000/11/msg/00015.html.p4





GGI. J back 4ambach, ?., %--5, Beonardo, Beft handed 9raftsman and @riter, in

Beonardo da Vinci Master 9raftsman, d 4ambach, Nale University +ress, p.5#*

32.GGII. J back 4ambach, ?.,

inwww.metmuseum.orgAspecialABeonardoKMasterK9raftsmanAdraftsmanKleftKess

ay.aspGGIII. J back 0ennedy, 7 and ?hurchill, 8. ibid, p.%3%.

GGIV. J back 8ichter, C.,+.,#2"-, he otebooks of Beonardo da Vinci Vol.II, 9over

+ublications, ew Nork, +B. ?GIIGGV. J back 0ennedy, 7 and ?hurchill, 8. ibid, p.#.



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