Voynich MS - Glossary / Key Word Index

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A

Aegean Park Press: publisher of Mary D'Imperio's important monograph about the Voynich MS, and of Levitov's book. They may be contacted via the following web site (to be added).
Disclaimer: the author of this web site is not in any way affliliated with Aegean Park Press.

Askham, Anthony: lesser known brother of Roger Askham. Wrote a herbal and an almanac. Suggested writer of the Voynich MS according to the proposed solution by Leonard Strong (q.v.)

B

Bacon, Francis: occasionally mistakenly understood to be the writer of the Voynich MS, when really Roger Bacon was intended. He was involved in cryptography as well, for which see D'Imperio and Kahn.

Bacon, Roger: suggested writer of the Voynich MS, according to W. Voynich and Newbold. The Marci letter attached to the Voynich MS mentions that this was also believed at the court of Rudolph II of Bohemia. This attribution is probably due to the Bacon admirer John Dee.
See D'Imperio section 7.

Baresch, M. Georgius: otherwise unkown owner of the Voynich MS in the 1630's, who left it in his will to Marci. His letter to Kircher asking for advice about this MS is preseved. See also the history section.

Beckx, Petrus S.J.: 22nd father general of the society of Jesus, from 1853 to 1884, died in 1887. See the history section.
An on-line C.V. is available in the >> Catholic Encyclopedia.
There is also a printed biography.
IMAGE: portrait

Beinecke: The Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library of Yale University is the current owner of the Voynich MS, and of collateral material from its past owners. It provides microfiche copies and copyflo printouts thereof for a reasonable price to all interested people.
The library has its own >> home page on the Web, and the >> catalog entry of the Voynich MS (MS 408) can be viewed directly.
Disclaimer: the author of this web site is not in any way affliliated with the Beinecke library.

Bennett, William Ralph: author of a book using the Voynich MS as an example for text analysis with the computer. (Ref)

bifolio: see description of MS layout

Brumbaugh, Robert S: See D'Imperio section 5.4. (Include references to his publications.)
Died in 199x, and his children (son Robert Conrad Brumbaugh and an otherwise unkown daugher) are reportedly continuing his work.

Bruno, Giordano: potential writer of the Voynich MS according to [ref to be found]. Bruno briefly visited the court of Rudolph. Declared a heretic, he died at the stake in 1600.
See also the Galileo Project >> biographies.

C

Cathars: brought in connection with the Voynich MS (most probably incorrectly) by Levitov (q.v.).

Catholic University: the Catholic University in Washington D.C. has had a long involvement with the Voynich MS. After the death of W. Voynich, a copy of the MS was made available to Prof. H. Hvernat by Mrs. E Voynich. This formed the basis of study by at least the following people at this University: Th. Petersen, Th. Holm and Hugh O'Neill.

Child, James: proposed a solution to the Voynich MS. Not mentioned in D'Imperio. Participated in the 1972 symposium led by Mary D'Imperio and advanced the theory that the Voynich MS is old high German (Norse?).

Currier, Captn. Prescott ~: studied the Voynich MS and advanced the theory that it must have been composed by at least two people, but perhaps even more. Devised one of the most popular transcription alphabets.

D

Dee, John: suspected owner and seller to Rudolph II of Bohemia of the Voynich MS. See the section about the origin of the MS.
See also the Galileo Project >> biographies.
IMAGE: portrait.

Dunstan, Book of St. ~: book once (probably) owned by Kelly. See origin of the Voynich MS

E

EKT: Extended King Tut. A hypothesis by Dennis Stallings about how the low entropy of the Voynich MS text may be explained. (See his >> web site).

entropy: here: a measure of the information contained in a piece of text. See discussion.

F

Feely, Joseph M.: Proposed a solution to the Voynich MS. See D'Imperio section 5.2. (Include ref.)

folio: see description of MS layout

Friedman, Elizebeth: wife of William Friedman, also interested in the Voynich MS and herself also a keep cryptographer.

Friedman, William F.: One of the most active students of the Voynich MS, who advocated that it may have been written in and early form of a synthetic language. Set up the 'First Study Group' (FSG) and the 'Second Study Group' (SSG). His contributions have been studied especialy by Jim Reeds, and they will also be summarised on a future page at this site.

FSG: First Study Group, as set up by William F. Friedman. Also the name of the transcription alphabet used by this group

G

gallows: term used for four apparent characters in the script of the Voynich MS. Called 'intruding gallows' when they are combined with (writtten through) another character of the alphabet. Will be explained in the section about the MS script.

gathering: (=quire), see description of MS layout

H

Holm, Theodor: Danish (not Dutch as D'Imperio suggests) botanist and zoologist at the Catholic University who made several tentative plant identifications used by Petersen.

Horcicky, Jacobus ~ de Tepenec: his signature (Jacobj à Tepenece) is on the first folio of the manuscript. He assumed the Latinised name of Sinapius. See the history section.

Hyvernat, Prof. H.: scholar of near-eastern languages who discovered an important source of coptic documents in 1910. Made sure they were not sold to individual private owners but that they were bought by the Pierpont Morgan Lirbray. Wilfrid Voynich knew him but avoided direct contact.
See the history section.

I

D'Imperio, Mary E.: Wrote a book about the Voynich MS which compiles all information she found about in in the 1970's. This is generally agreed to be the best single source about the Voynich MS and it has been used extensively at this site. Also organised a symposium about the MS, which included Currier's important findings.

Internet mailing list:

J

K

Kelly, Edward: affiliated with John Dee. Stayed in Prague until 1595 and was imprisoned there, dying as a result of a failed escape attempt. See the section about the origin of the MS.

Kent, Roland G.: friend of Newbold. Published Newbold's theories about the Voynich MS after the latter's death.

Kircher, Athanasius ~ S.J.: See the history section.
See also the Galileo Project >> biographies.
IMAGE: portrait
IMAGE: the museum Kircherianum

Kraus, Hans P.: See D'Imperio. Bought the Voynich MS from the estate of Mrs. E.Voynich for US$ 24,500 in 1961. When unable to sell it, he donated it to the Beinecke library of Yale university in 1969. (Include references to his two books.)

L

label: an apparent word in the Voynich MS which is written near an illustration, and which is generally believed to say something about this illustration. See the section about the text of the MS.

Levitov, Leo: proposed that the Voynich MS represents a Cathar praying book. (Include Ref to his book). A >> critical linguistic analysis was written by Frogguy and Stallings has extensive >> background information about Cathars, showing that the details of Levitov's theory are incorrect.

locus: term used to indicate one piece of written text in the Voynich MS. Usually, this is one line of writing, part of a paragraph. Alternatively, it may be one label, or a word written somewhere in the middle of a page, or a piece of writing along a radiating or circumferential line in one of the astronomical or cosmological diagrams in the MS.

M

Manly, John M.: one of the chief detractors of Newbold's solution to the Voynich MS. (Ref. to his publications).

Marci, Johannus Marcus ~ de Kronland: owned the Voynich MS and sent it to Kircher in 1665 (or 1666). See the history section.
See also the Galileo Project >> biographies.
There are several portraits at the portrait gallery

McKenna, Terence: published some theories arguing that the MS is a fake (Dee + Kelley?). (Include reference to his publication and audio tape.)

Misserone, Dionysius: also known as Miseroni. See the history section.
IMAGE: portrait

Missowski: see Raphael.

Mondragone: a villa located near Frascati. This used to house a Jesuit college, where a large Jesuit book collection was being kept during the second suppression of the Jesuit order. This is where Voynich found and bought the MS with the aid of one Fr. Strickland S.J. See the history section.
See also a >> description of the villa
IMAGE: 17th Century picture of the villa
IMAGE: modern picture of the villa

MS: abbreviation for Manuscript

N

Newbold, William Romaine: See D'Imperio, section 5.1. Proposed the most famous (and most controversial) solution of the Voynich MS, indicating that Roger Bacon write the Voynich MS. This was rejected and disproved by John Manly. His theory was published posthumously by Roland G. Kent. (Include ref)

O

O'Neill, Hugh: botanist at the Catholic University in the 1940's. Suggested that the Voynich MS must have been written after 1493 as he identified several plants from the Americas.

P

Panofsky, E.: historian and expert about the German Renaissance, esp. Albrecht Duerer.

Petersen: Assistant of Prof. H. Hyvernat at the Catholic University of America. Made a complete hand transcription of the MS and was one of the most active students of it.

Q

quire: see description of MS layout

R

Raphael: mentioned in the Marci letter. Full name: Raphael Sobiehrd Mnisowski de Sebuzin and de Horstein
See the origin of the VMs (eventually).

recipes (section): See description of MS illustrations

Rudolph II of Bohemia: see D'Imperio, early sections. Mentioned as the buyer of the Voynich MS in the letter to Marci.

S

Sinapius: see Horcicky

Soyga,, book of ~: book once owned by Dee, and mistakenly thought to be identical with the Voynich MS. See origin of the Voynich MS

Stojko, John: proposed solution to the Voynich MS.

Strickland: Jesuit priest at the boarding school of Villa Mondragone, who enabled W. Voynich to buy some valuable MS's, among which the Voynich MS.

Strong, Leonell: proposed solution to the Voynich MS. See D'Imperio section 5.3. His correspondence is available on an >> Internet web site.

T

Talbot: Pseudonym used by Kelly when he met Dee.

Tepenec: see Horcicky.

Tiltman, John: Cryptographer and friend of W. Friedman. Made an important study of the stars section of the Voynich MS (include refs)

Toresella, Sergio: A herbal expert who palces the Voynich MS in the tradition of alchemical herbals, and dates it to the 1460's. (ref).

Tut, King: see EKT.

U

V

Voynich, Ethel Lilian: daughter of mathematcian Boole, and writer of the famous novel 'The Gadfly'. Married Wilfrid Voynich (q.v.) and owned the Voynich MS from his death in 1930 to her own death in 1960. See history of the Voynich MS.
IMAGE: portrait

Voynich, Wilfrid Michael: An antiquarian book-dealer. Discoverer of the manuscript in 1912 in the Villa Mondragone. (Include reference to his article.) See history of the Voynich MS.
IMAGE: portrait

W

X

Y

Yale: the Beinecke (q.v.) library of Yale University (New Haven, Conn., USA) now owns the Voynich MS, after the donation by H.P. Kraus.

Z

Zipf, (~ law): an empirial law of statistics. See discussion.

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