Voynich MS - The first name of W.M.Voynich

The first name of W.M. Voynich

Introduction

The first name of W.M. Voynich is predominantly cited as "Wilfrid", but occasionally one also finds "Wilfred". Neither of these were given to him at birth. He was born as "Michał". The name Wilfrid (or Wilfred) was adopted after he escaped from Siberia and settled in the UK (1).

This page first visually presents the overwhelming evidence why "Wilfrid" should be the correct form. This is followed by a brief discussion. Finally, proper references for each of the documents are provided.

Brief overview of records asserting "Wilfrid"

His marriage certificate

Listed name: Wilfrid Michael Habdank-Wojnicz (2).

His naturalization papers

Listed names: Wilfrid Michael Habdank Wojnicz and Wilfrid Michael Voynich (3).

Entry records in the US

On 21 November 1914, S.S. Lusitania sailing from Liverpool, at Ellis Island: Voynich, Wilfrid Michael (4).

zooming in on his name:

On 13 May 1916, S.S. St. Louis sailing from Liverpool, at Ellis Island: Voynich, Wilfrid M. de.

Several more records exist.

His last will

Listed names: Wilfrid M. Voynich (in letterhead) and I undersigned below, Wilfrid Michael Voynich (in his own hand) (5). Several more entries appear in the original document.

His death certificate

Listed name: Wilfrid Michael Voynich (see note 2a).

Earliest references

MacKinnon refers to a letter from Voynich written in 1892 (see note 3), in which Voynich announces that he has assumed the pseudonym Wilfrid Voynich, but this will not be used as evidence here (6).

An early list of rare books was issued in May 1903, and in this he gives his name as Wilfrid M. Voynich (see image) (7).

Evidence for "Wilfred"

VIAF and NACO

The Virtual International Authority File (>> https://viaf.org/) gives his name as Wilfred (Michael) Voynich (>>link to entry). VIAF directly relies on the Library of Congress Name Authority Cooperative Programme (NACO) for its data (8).

The record for Voynich is found >>here (which will ideally open in a new tab or browser page, so that one can still continue reading here). The page refers to Sowerby (1967), suggesting that this author names Wilfred Michael Voynich on p.8 and pp.29-30 respectively (9). It also provides two additional links:

"LC Authorities" which provides two Authorized Heading records for "Wilfred" in table row 1, and zero "References" records for "Wilfrid" in Table row 3. This contains the raw data behind the formatted information we had just seen.
"LC Catalog" which leads to two times two items in the LoC, which should confirm Voynich's first name. These are:

"Voynich, Wilfred Michael, 1865-1930 (2)", referring to a MS held in the LoC collections (10), and a copy of his first [-ninth] list of books offered for sale ... by W.M. Voynich (11);
"Voynich, Wilfred Michael, 1865-1930. [from old catalog] (2)", referring to an Illustrated catalog, and to an "Illustrated catalogue of early printed books, many with woodcuts..." (12);

Brief discussion

As VIAF and Library of Congress are authoritative sources, more and more institutions are likely to use their version of his name.

The correct version of his name would have been in his passport, if he had any. Presumably, he should have had a British passport when entering the US, with his name based on his naturalization. Both his naturalization papers and the US entry records at Ellis Island state "Wilfrid".

Based on this, I would like to argue that the preferable approach would be that the VIAF name entry for Voynich is changed, rather than multiple institutions inside and outside the US changing their online records (13). Effectively, this change would have to be implemented in NACO at Library of Congress, and VIAF would be updated automatically.

Location of the cited documents

His marriage certificate

Wilfrid Voynich married Ethel Lilian Boole on 6 September 1902. The marriage certificate shown here is a certified extract dated 14 March 2001, from the register of Marriages in the district of St.Giles, borough of Camden, London (UK) (see note 2). The register is now preserved in the London Metropolitan Archives.

Naturalisation papers

Voynich's certificate of naturalization was issued on 25 April 1904. It is now preserved in the National Archives, Kew, Richmond (UK), as record HO 144/751/117022 (see note 3).

Entry records in the US

Entry records documenting Voynich's travels to the US are preserved in (at least) two places: New York Passenger Lists and Ellis Island Records (see note 3). The two examples cited here are from the Ellis Island Records (see note 4). The Ellis Island records can be accessed freely online via >> this link.

His last will

As stated by Katz (see note 5), Voynich's will and existing probate records are preserved as: Estate of Wilfrid M. Voynich, Surrogate's Court, New York County, No. P1022/1930. This record includes both his own handwritten version and a typewritten transcript.

His death certificate

According to MacKinnon (see note 3), Voynich's certificate of death is available at the New York Municipal Archives.

Notes

1: For general information about his life, see his biography.
2: This information derives from the >>web site of Colin MacKinnon. The image of the certificate was provided to him by Gerry Kennedy.
3: This information derives from the >>web site of Colin MacKinnon.
4: All entries are from the (now unfortunately defunct) web site of Rafał Prinke. Colin MacKinnon also provides a list, though without images.
5: Voynich's last will was found by Farley Katz, and first presented in Katz (2022).
6: This should be in a letter from Voynich to his friend Lazar Goldenberg in New York, where Voynich tells Goldenberg that he has just married and taken the name Wilfrid Voynich. Reference to this letter should be found in Evgenia Taratuta's book: "our friend Ethel Lilian Voynich" (1957), originally in Russian. However, I have not (yet) been able to confirm this reference. Furthermore, the reliablilty of this book can occasionally be called into question.
7: I am grateful to Laura Cleaver for this image.
8: I am grateful to both Lisa Fagin Davis and Laura Cleaver for this information.
9: In fact, consulting Sowerby (1967), we find the following: the very second sentence of her book (page 3): "There were several people in the shop, but there was no mistaking Wilfrid Michael Voynich". On page 8: "Only a person endowed with the most remarkable mental and physical powers could have survived what Wilfrid Michael Voynich went through during the years before he became the greatest international rare-book dealer of his time." Then on page 31 (Postlude): "No one who had the pleasure of knowing Wilfred Michael Voynich would fail to feel richer and better for the experience". Page 32 again has "Wilfrid". In general, Sowerby prefers to name him "Mr. Voynich".
10: The manuscript ("Liber sextus decretalium Bonifacii Papae VIII : cum glossis Johannes Andreae") was donated to Library of Congress by Voynich in 1928. In >>"Medieval and Renaissance manuscript books in the Library of Congress: a descriptive catalog (Vol.2) this donation is mentioned, and he is listed as "W.M. Voynich".
11: The named list of books is one I have personally consulted at Library of Congress on 8 November 2014. Its title page says "W.M. Voynich".
12: I have not yet been able to identify the first catalogue. The second catalogue is easily identifiable and its title page says "Wilfrid M. Voynich".
13: The vast majority of existing (in many cases printed) resources in these institutions use "Wilfrid".