# Anything New on the "Voynich" Manuscript? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 26, 2010, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-new-on-the-voynich-manuscript/565432 "2010-12-26T15:57:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Retzbu\_Tox](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/retzbu_tox/32/11829_2.png) [@Retzbu\_Tox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Retzbu_Tox)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2024, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-new-on-the-voynich-manuscript/565432/121 "2024-12-21T19:02:05Z")
I watched the most recent episode of **Expedition Files** with Josh Gates (I know, I know, it’s not a scientifically rigorous peer-reviewed source) and he discussed the Voynich Manuscript. They didn’t present anything about solving the encryption, but talked about clues to the book’s possible origin. The crenellations in the following image are similar to the crenellations on buildings associated with the Scaliger family in northern Italy. [![](https://www.voynich.nu/img/clips/castle.jpg) ](https://www.voynich.nu/img/clips/castle.jpg) [![](https://as2.ftcdn.net/v2/jpg/01/04/22/89/1000_F_104228910_wGnrpE7dqodaYbmuLjbiUAXyO1EsrLxe.jpg) ](https://as2.ftcdn.net/v2/jpg/01/04/22/89/1000_F_104228910_wGnrpE7dqodaYbmuLjbiUAXyO1EsrLxe.jpg) There were Jewish residents/communities in that part of Italy in the same timeframe indicated by carbon dating of the Voynich Manuscript’s pages. The repeated images in the manuscript of women bathing may be related to Jewish mikvah bathing rituals. The repeated images of strange plants might be for identifying herbs. Cryptographic analysis of the manuscript suggest that the encrypted language might not use vowels, similar to Hebrew. The theory presented to account for these “clues” was that the Voynich Manuscript might have been written by a Jewish physician or herbalist in northern Italy, and encoded to protect trade secrets. I’ve heard before that the plants don’t match real species. Maybe if its an encrypted herbalist book, the images are also “encrypted”, with false features to confuse readers. For instance, the text could tell you to only consider the shape of the leaf, while the image throws in a weird flower that you are instructed to ignore. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2024, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-new-on-the-voynich-manuscript/565432/122 "2024-12-21T19:06:16Z")
> [@Retzbu\_Tox](#): > > The repeated images in the manuscript of women bathing may be related to Jewish mikvah bathing rituals. Or it might just mean that the author was a horny doodler. ---
**Author:** ![Retzbu\_Tox](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/retzbu_tox/32/11829_2.png) [@Retzbu\_Tox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Retzbu_Tox)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2024, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-new-on-the-voynich-manuscript/565432/123 "2024-12-21T22:42:42Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Or it might just mean that the author was a horny doodler. Which, put together with the indecipherable language, alien plants, and bizarre astronomy, indicates that the Voynich Manuscript is the first pornographic fantasy/scifi novel, encrypted so the author’s mom couldn’t read it? This theory could be just as valid as anything else out there… ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2024, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-new-on-the-voynich-manuscript/565432/124 "2024-12-24T05:43:32Z")
Is there an analogous pre-Gutenberg manuscript written in a known language with similarly fanciful drawings and varied chapters? ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2024, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-new-on-the-voynich-manuscript/565432/125 "2024-12-24T06:30:21Z")
Here you go: [https://iiif.bl.uk/uv/#?manifest=https://bl.digirati.io/iiif/ark:/81055/vdc\_100058663072.0x000001](https://iiif.bl.uk/uv/#?manifest=https://bl.digirati.io/iiif/ark:/81055/vdc_100058663072.0x000001) ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2024, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-new-on-the-voynich-manuscript/565432/126 "2024-12-24T06:56:28Z")
Fantastic: thanks. Here’s the wiki: > **[Treatise on Herbs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treatise_on_Herbs)** > > The Tractatus de herbis (Treatise on Herbs), sometimes called Secreta Salernitana (Secrets of Salerno), is a textual and figural tradition of herbals handed down through several illuminated manuscripts of the late Middle Ages. These treatises present pure plant, mineral, or animal substances with therapeutic properties. Depending on the version, there are between 500 and over 900 entries, grouped in alphabetical order. Originating in Italy, they were distributed throughout Europe and contributed ... A compare and contrast might be interesting. I assume the Treatise on Herbs (egerton ms 747) has more accurate plant depictions than the Voynich. The Treatise does have some fanciful drawings of animals and people though. Wiki has this intriguing passage: > The origins of the tradition and the exact function of herbariums remain obscure and debated. While the earliest manuscripts were probably compiled as true scientific treatises, some derivative versions are more like prestige creations intended for a wealthy elite. Interesting, but it doesn’t explain the wholly unknown alphabet in the Voynich, nor its linguistic integrity (eg word frequency following Zif’s law). Egerton ms 747 was apparently an early version of the Treatise. I’d like to see a comparison of Voynich and more derivative versions such as the textless [paris beaux arts masson 116](https://jenikirbyhistory.getarchive.net/topics/paris+beaux+arts+masson+116). Are there medieval manuscripts with a similarly shaky grasp on medieval astronomy, astrology, botany, etc.? ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2026, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-new-on-the-voynich-manuscript/565432/127 "2026-07-11T05:50:09Z")
> [@Retzbu\_Tox](#): > > Which, put together with the indecipherable language, alien plants, and bizarre astronomy, indicates that the Voynich Manuscript is the first pornographic fantasy/scifi novel, encrypted so the author’s mom couldn’t read it? This theory could be just as valid as anything else out there… Apologies if it’s already been said above, but the suggestion that tickled me the most was that it’s the player’s handbook for a medieval RPG. ooo What is new is that the **Voynich Talk** channel on youtube (and the **Voynich Ninja** discussion board) has announced that [they are banning AI generated “solutions”.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_2sOPwAQtw) **Voynich Talk** is produced by actual medieval experts, who only speak to the Manuscript from within their own specialty. I’ve been impressed with their videos. **Voynich Ninja** does not exclude non-experts from discussions. I haven’t checked them out, and may not. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-new-on-the-voynich-manuscript/565432.md?page=6)