Voynich MS - Quire 20

	Voynich MS - Quire 20
Description Quire 20 probably contained 7 normal-sized bifolia, of which the central bifolio is now missing. The remaining folios are numbered 103 through 108 and 111 through 116. The gathering mark is (unusually) on f103r. This gathering contains the complete 'recipes' section. The section owes its name to the fact that it has short paragraphs preceded by a star each, and appear similar to recipes in medical MSs. The number of marginal stars is 324, but because (at least) one bifolio is missing, we don't know what would have been the total number. Tiltman analysed the text of this section very intensively, and his conclusions have been summarised in the analysis section. Theodore Petersen, in his hand transliteration, transcribed each paragraph on a single line (spanning several pages in width), hoping to find some indication of a similar structure in each paragraph. Schematic folio layout:
		Folio 103
Normal folio. The folio nr. is on f103r.
		f103r
>>Link to 2014 scan (Beinecke digital library) >>Link to 2004 scan (Jason Davies Voyager) General description This is a so-called recipes page, which is text-only, with stars drawn in the margin (see also here). Folio nr (103) in upper right corner. Gathering mark "20" in the lower left corner (which is unusual). Illustration(s) There are 19 stars in the left margin. They have been painted red, or have a faded yellow circle in the centre, or are entirely unpainted. The last one appears to have a 'tail' at the top. Text This page has 54 text items (loci), as follows: 54 lines of standard text in paragraphs. The number of paragraphs is not entirely certain, but seems to be 18, i.e. one less than the nr. of stars. Currier language: B RZ language: B+ (page) / B+ (folio) / B+ (bifolio) LFD hand: 3 Browse interlinear transliteration of f103r Tentative identifications Other information
		f103v
>>Link to 2014 scan (Beinecke digital library) >>Link to 2004 scan (Jason Davies Voyager) General description This is a so-called recipes page, which is text-only, with stars drawn in the margin (see also here). Illustration(s) There are 14 stars in the margin. They have alternatingly red or faded yellow circles in the centre. None have tails. Text This page has 46 text items (loci), as follows: 46 lines of standard text in paragraphs. The text is almost certainly subdivided into 14 paragraphs. Currier language: B RZ language: B+ (page) / B+ (folio) / B+ (bifolio) LFD hand: 3 Browse interlinear transliteration of f103v Tentative identifications Other information
		Folio 104
Normal folio. The folio nr. is on f104r.
		f104r
>>Link to 2014 scan (Beinecke digital library) >>Link to 2004 scan (Jason Davies Voyager) General description This is a so-called recipes page, which is text-only, with stars drawn in the margin (see also here). Folio nr (104) in upper right corner. Illustration(s) There are 13 stars in the left margin, all with a tail. Some are red, some have a red dot in the centre and others have a faded yellow dot in the centre. Text This page has 45 text items (loci), as follows: 45 lines of standard text in paragraphs. The text is subdivided into 13 paragraphs. Currier language: B RZ language: B+ (page) / B+ (folio) / Bs+ (bifolio) LFD hand: 3 Browse interlinear transliteration of f104r Tentative identifications Other information
		f104v
>>Link to 2014 scan (Beinecke digital library) >>Link to 2004 scan (Jason Davies Voyager) General description This is a so-called recipes page, which is text-only, with stars drawn in the margin (see also here). Illustration(s) There are 13 stars in the left margin, all with a tail. They alternatingly have a red dot or a faded yellow dot in the centre. Text This page has 44 text items (loci), as follows: 4 lines of standard text in paragraphs. The text is subdivided into 13 paragraphs. Currier language: B RZ language: Bs+ (page) / B+ (folio) / Bs+ (bifolio) LFD hand: 3 Browse interlinear transliteration of f104v Tentative identifications Other information
		Folio 105
Normal folio. The folio nr. is on f105r.
		f105r
>>Link to 2014 scan (Beinecke digital library) >>Link to 2004 scan (Jason Davies Voyager) General description This is a so-called recipes page, which is text-only, with stars drawn in the margin (see also here). Folio nr (105) in upper right corner. Illustration(s) There a ten stars in the left margin, though the first one is drawn above, rather than to the left of the start of the text. They all ave a tail. The centres have a red or faded yellow dot, mostly alternatingly. Text This page has 37 text items (loci), as follows: 37 lines of standard text in paragraphs, of which one is centred and one right-justified. The text is subdivided into ten paragraps. The very last line is centred. There is a break between the third and fourth paragraphs, and it appears as if the end of the third paragraphs was written above it (right-justified). Currier language: B RZ language: Bs (page) / Bs (folio) / Bs (bifolio) LFD hand: 3 Browse interlinear transliteration of f105r Tentative identifications Other information The start of this page looks as if it should or could have been the start of this section.
		f105v
>>Link to 2014 scan (Beinecke digital library) >>Link to 2004 scan (Jason Davies Voyager) General description This is a so-called recipes page, which is text-only, with stars drawn in the margin (see also here). Illustration(s) There are 10 stars in the left margin, all with a tail. The centres have alternatingly red and faded yellow dots. Text This page has 38 text items (loci), as follows: 38 lines of standard text in paragraphs. The text hsa been subdivided into 10 paragraphs. Currier language: B RZ language: Bs (page) / Bs (folio) / Bs (bifolio) LFD hand: 3 Browse interlinear transliteration of f105v Tentative identifications Other information
		Folio 106
Normal folio. The folio nr. is on f106r.
		f106r
>>Link to 2014 scan (Beinecke digital library) >>Link to 2004 scan (Jason Davies Voyager) General description This is a so-called recipes page, which is text-only, with stars drawn in the margin (see also here). Folio nr (106) in upper right corner. Illustration(s) There are 15 large stars and one small one in the left margin. The smaller one is drawn just above and attached to the third large one. All large stars have tails, and coloured dots in their centre, alternatingly red or faded yellow. Text This page has 47 text items (loci), as follows: 47 lines of standard text in paragraphs. The text has been subdivided into 15 paragraphs. Currier language: B RZ language: Bs (page) / Bs (folio) / Bs (bifolio) LFD hand: 3 Browse interlinear transliteration of f106r Tentative identifications Other information
		f106v
>>Link to 2014 scan (Beinecke digital library) >>Link to 2004 scan (Jason Davies Voyager) General description This is a so-called recipes page, which is text-only, with stars drawn in the margin (see also here). Illustration(s) There are 14 stars drawn in the left margin, all with a tail. They have coloured dots in the centre, alternatingly red and faded yellow. Text This page has 47 text items (loci), as follows: 47 lines of standard text in paragraphs. The text has been subdivided into 15 paragraphs. Currier language: B RZ language: Bs (page) / Bs (folio) / Bs (bifolio) LFD hand: 3 Browse interlinear transliteration of f106v Tentative identifications Other information The number of paragraphs appears to be one more than the number of marginal stars.
		Folio 107
Normal folio. The folio nr. is on f107r.
		f107r
>>Link to 2014 scan (Beinecke digital library) >>Link to 2004 scan (Jason Davies Voyager) General description This is a so-called recipes page, which is text-only, with stars drawn in the margin (see also here). There is a small round hole near the right margin of the page. Folio nr (107) in upper right corner. Illustration(s) There are 15 stars in the left margin, all with a tail. They have coloured dots in their centres which are alternatingly red and faded yellow. There are three dots to the left of the 11th star. It is not clear whether this is original to the MS. Text This page has 51 text items (loci), as follows: 51 lines of standard text in paragraphs. There are most probably 15 paragraphs. Currier language: B RZ language: C (page) / C (folio) / Bs (bifolio) LFD hand: 3 Browse interlinear transliteration of f107r Tentative identifications Other information
		f107v
>>Link to 2014 scan (Beinecke digital library) >>Link to 2004 scan (Jason Davies Voyager) General description This is a so-called recipes page, which is text-only, with stars drawn in the margin (see also here). There is a small round hole near the left margin of the page. Illustration(s) There are 15 stars in the left margin. They all seem to have a tail, but some are short and others very faint. They have coloured dots in the centre, alternatingly red and fadd yellow. The first start has three short vertical lines both left and right of it. Text This page has 49 text items (loci), as follows: 49 lines of standard text in paragraphs. The text has been subdivided into 15 paragraphs. Currier language: B RZ language: C+ (page) / C (folio) / Bs (bifolio) LFD hand: 3 Browse interlinear transliteration of f107v Tentative identifications Other information
		Folio 108
Normal folio. The folio nr. is on f108r.
		f108r
>>Link to 2014 scan (Beinecke digital library) >>Link to 2004 scan (Jason Davies Voyager) General description This is a so-called recipes page, which is text-only, with stars drawn in the margin (see also here). Folio nr (108) in upper right corner. Illustration(s) There are 16 stars in the left margin, all with a tail. Some are painted red, others have a yellow faded dot in the middle, and others again are left white. Text This page has 50 text items (loci), as follows: 50 lines of standard text in paragraphs. There are probably 16 paragraphs of text. One or two paragraph breaks are not certain. Currier language: B RZ language: Bs+ (page) / Bs+ (folio) / Bs+ (bifolio) LFD hand: 3 Browse interlinear transliteration of f108r Tentative identifications Other information
		f108v
>>Link to 2014 scan (Beinecke digital library) >>Link to 2004 scan (Jason Davies Voyager) General description This is a so-called recipes page, which is text-only, with stars drawn in the margin (see also here). Illustration(s) There are 16 stars in the left margin, all with a tail. The first nine alternate with red and faded yellow dots in the centre. The tenth stands out a bit and is a new start with a red dot (as was the ninth). Text This page has 53 text items (loci), as follows: 53 lines of standard text in paragraphs, of which one is right-justified. The number of paragraphs is hard to count, but most probably is only 8, i.e. clearly fewer than the number of stars. The first five are short and aligned with the stars. The sixth and seventh are longer and the eighth appears to cover lines 34 to 53, with the last 7 stars in the margin. Currier language: B RZ language: Bs+ (page) / Bs+ (folio) / Bs+ (bifolio) LFD hand: 3 Browse interlinear transliteration of f108v Tentative identifications Other information This is one of the few cases in this section where a number of marginal stars appear that are not aligned to short paragraphs.
		Folio 109
Missing folio.
		Folio 110
Missing folio.
		Folio 111
Normal folio. The folio nr. is on f111r.
		f111r
>>Link to 2014 scan (Beinecke digital library) >>Link to 2004 scan (Jason Davies Voyager) General description This is a so-called recipes page, which is text-only, with stars drawn in the margin (see also here). Folio nr (111) in upper right corner. Illustration(s) There are 17 stars in the left margin, all with a tail. They have coloured dots in the centre, alternatingly red and faded yellow. Text This page has 54 text items (loci), as follows: 54 lines of standard text in paragraphs. The text appears to be in 6 paragraphs. The first is normal, but the second very long, filling more than half the page. Currier language: B RZ language: Bs (page) / Bs+ (folio) / Bs+ (bifolio) LFD hand: 3 Browse interlinear transliteration of f111r Tentative identifications Other information This is another example where the stars in the margin do not match up with the paragraphs of text.
		f111v
>>Link to 2014 scan (Beinecke digital library) >>Link to 2004 scan (Jason Davies Voyager) General description This is a so-called recipes page, which is text-only, with stars drawn in the margin (see also here). Illustration(s) There are 19 stars in the margin. The ninth has a long tail, several have short(er) tails, but most have no tail. They have coloured dots in the centre, alternatingly red and faded yellow. Text This page has 51 text items (loci), as follows: 51 lines of standard text in paragraphs. There appear to be 8 paragraphs, but the number is hard to count. The first paragraph fills almost half the page. Currier language: B RZ language: Bs+ (page) / Bs+ (folio) / Bs+ (bifolio) LFD hand: 3 Browse interlinear transliteration of f111v Tentative identifications Other information This is another example where the stars in the margin do not match up with the paragraphs of text.
		Folio 112
Normal folio. The folio nr. is on f112r.
		f112r
>>Link to 2014 scan (Beinecke digital library) >>Link to 2004 scan (Jason Davies Voyager) General description This is a so-called recipes page, which is text-only, with stars drawn in the margin (see also here). The right edge of the parchment is concave in the upper part, and a large area near it has not been written upon, as if the quality was not good enough. Folio nr (112) in upper right corner. Illustration(s) There are 12 stars in the left margin. All have a small tail. They have coloured dots in the centre, alternatingly red and faded yellow. Text This page has 45 text items (loci), as follows: 45 lines of standard text in paragraphs. There appear to be 11 or 12 paragraphs. The break that should be between the first two cannot really be recognised. Currier language: B RZ language: Bs (page) / Bs+ (folio) / Bs (bifolio) LFD hand: 3 Browse interlinear transliteration of f112r Tentative identifications Other information
		f112v
>>Link to 2014 scan (Beinecke digital library) >>Link to 2004 scan (Jason Davies Voyager) General description This is a so-called recipes page, which is text-only, with stars drawn in the margin (see also here). The left edge of the parchment is concave in the upper part, and a large area near it has not been written upon, as if the quality was not good enough. Illustration(s) There are 13 stars in the left margin, all with a tail. They have coloured dots in the centre, alternatingly red and faded yellow. Text This page has 47 text items (loci), as follows: 47 lines of standard text in paragraphs. There appear to be 12 or 13 paragraphs. The break that should be between the last two paragraphs cannot realy be recognised. The first two paragraphs are indented significantly, as if to avoid the patch of bad parchment. The next three paragraphs are also indented, but much less. Currier language: B RZ language: Bs+ (page) / Bs+ (folio) / Bs (bifolio) LFD hand: 3 Browse interlinear transliteration of f112v Tentative identifications Other information
		Folio 113
Normal folio. The folio nr. is on f113r.
		f113r
>>Link to 2014 scan (Beinecke digital library) >>Link to 2004 scan (Jason Davies Voyager) General description This is a so-called recipes page, which is text-only, with stars drawn in the margin (see also here). There are two tiny round holes in the left margin, and a slightly smaller oval one near the right edge of the page. The latter looks like an insect hole. Folio nr (113) in upper right corner. Illustration(s) There are 16 stars in the left margin, all with a tail. Their centres have coloured dots, alternatingly red and faded yellow, and unusually starting with faded yellow. Text This page has 51 text items (loci), as follows: 51 lines of standard text in paragraphs. The text appears to be in 17 paragraphs, i.e. one more than the number of marginal stars. Currier language: B RZ language: Ce (page) / C (folio) / Bs (bifolio) LFD hand: 3 Browse interlinear transliteration of f113r Tentative identifications Other information
		f113v
>>Link to 2014 scan (Beinecke digital library) >>Link to 2004 scan (Jason Davies Voyager) General description This is a so-called recipes page, which is text-only, with stars drawn in the margin (see also here). There are two tiny round holes in the right margin, and a slightly smaller oval one near the left edge of the page. The latter looks like an insect hole. Illustration(s) There are 15 stars in the left margin, all with a tail. They have coloured dots in the centre, alternatingly red and faded yellow. Text This page has 49 text items (loci), as follows: 49 lines of standard text in paragraphs. The test has been subdivided into 15 paragraphs. Currier language: B RZ language: C (page) / C (folio) / Bs (bifolio) LFD hand: 3 Browse interlinear transliteration of f113v Tentative identifications Other information
		Folio 114
Normal folio. The folio nr. is on f114r.
		f114r
>>Link to 2014 scan (Beinecke digital library) >>Link to 2004 scan (Jason Davies Voyager) General description This is a so-called recipes page, which is text-only, with stars drawn in the margin (see also here). There is a concave part in the edge of the parchment. The number of insect holes is increasing. Folio nr (114) in upper right corner. Illustration(s) There are 13 stars in the left margin, all with a tail. They have coloured dots in the centre, alternatingly red and faded yellow. Text This page has 45 text items (loci), as follows: 45 lines of standard text in paragraphs, one of which is right-justified. There are 13 paragraphs. The tenth ends with a right-justified partial line. Currier language: B RZ language: B (page) / B+ (folio) / Bs (bifolio) LFD hand: 3 Browse interlinear transliteration of f114r Tentative identifications Other information
		f114v
>>Link to 2014 scan (Beinecke digital library) >>Link to 2004 scan (Jason Davies Voyager) General description This is a so-called recipes page, which is text-only, with stars drawn in the margin (see also here). There is a concave part in the edge of the parchment. The number of insect holes is increasing. Illustration(s) There are 12 stars in the left margin, all with a tail. There are 12 coloured dots in the centre, alternatingly faded yellow and red, unusually starting with faded yellow. Text This page has 41 text items (loci), as follows: 41 lines of standard text in paragraphs. The text has been subdivided into 12 paragraphs. Currier language: B RZ language: B+ (page) / B+ (folio) / Bs (bifolio) LFD hand: 3 Browse interlinear transliteration of f114v Tentative identifications Other information
		Folio 115
Normal folio. The folio nr. is on f115r.
		f115r
>>Link to 2014 scan (Beinecke digital library) >>Link to 2004 scan (Jason Davies Voyager) General description This is a so-called recipes page, which is text-only, with stars drawn in the margin (see also here). There are numerous insect holes. Folio nr (115) in upper right corner. Illustration(s) There are 13 stars in the left margin, all except the second one with a tail. They have coloured dots in the centre, alternatingly red and faded yellow. Text This page has 45 text items (loci), as follows: 45 lines of standard text in paragraphs. The text has been subdivided into 13 paragraphs. There is a clear change in ink colour at the end of the fifth paragraph. Currier language: B RZ language: Bs+ (page) / Bs+ (folio) / Bs+ (bifolio) LFD hand: 2 (first 12 lines), then 3 (remainder) Browse interlinear transliteration of f115r Tentative identifications Other information
		f115v
>>Link to 2014 scan (Beinecke digital library) >>Link to 2004 scan (Jason Davies Voyager) General description This is a so-called recipes page, which is text-only, with stars drawn in the margin (see also here). There are numerous insect holes. Illustration(s) There are 13 stars in the left margin, all with a tail. All odd-numbered stars have a red dot in the centre. The others are not painted. Text This page has 45 text items (loci), as follows: 45 lines of standard text in paragraphs. The text has been subdivided into 13 paragraphs. Currier language: B RZ language: Bs+ (page) / Bs+ (folio) / Bs+ (bifolio) LFD hand: 3 Browse interlinear transliteration of f115v Tentative identifications Other information
		Folio 116
Normal folio. The folio nr. is on f116r.
		f116r
>>Link to 2014 scan (Beinecke digital library) >>Link to 2004 scan (Jason Davies Voyager) General description This is a so-called recipes page, which is text-only, with stars drawn in the margin (see also here). There are a large hole and a tear in the upper right corner. The latter was stitched in the past. There are numerous insect holes, also larger ones. Folio nr (116) in upper right corner. Illustration(s) There are 10 stars in the left margin, only in the upper half of the page. These stars do not have tails. Every second star has a red dot in the centre. Text This page has 50 text items (loci), as follows: 50 lines of standard text in paragraphs. There are 5 short paragraphs, followed by one longer paragraph, in the upper half of the page. The bottom half first has a long paragraph followed by a short one (5 lines). Currier language: B RZ language: Bb (page) / Bb (folio) / B+ (bifolio) LFD hand: 3 Browse interlinear transliteration of f116r Tentative identifications Other information Only the top half of the page has stars in the margin, aligned with the short paragraphs, while the long paragraph has several. The last two paragraphs have no marginal stars. This is unusual, and it strongly suggests that these last two paragraphs are some type of concluding remarks.
		f116v
>>Link to 2014 scan (Beinecke digital library) >>Link to 2004 scan (Jason Davies Voyager) General description This is the last page of the MS, which follows none of the standard patterns, but has a few lines of text in a mixture of (apparent) Latin, German and writing in the Voynichese script, and some small marginal drawings. These have inspired many researchers, and led to long and so far inconclusive discussions. There are a large hole and a tear in the upper left corner. The latter was stitched in the past. There are numerous insect holes, also larger ones. There are stains on this page which are from a previous tanned leather cover. Illustration(s) Three small drawings in the left margin, of (top down:) an indeterminate object, an animal and a possibly sitting nude woman. Text This page has 1 text item (locus) in the Voynich script, as follows: 1 pair of words, counted as a label of external writing. These two words appear at the start of the last of four lines of writing near the top of the page. The first line is in the top margin, and the other three are in the normal text frame of the rest of the MS. The Voynich handwriting appears identical in all respects to that in the remainder of the MS. Some people argue that in the left margin is another three-letter word in the latin (i.e. non-Voynich) alphabet. Currier language: - RZ language: - (page) / Bb (folio) / B+ (bifolio) LFD hand: 3 (?) Browse interlinear transliteration of f116v Tentative identifications The top marginal drawing has been considered to be some internal organ, perhaps a liver, but this is highly speculative. The second drawing is clearly an animal, not dissimilar in style to the Aries emblems in the zodiac. The first word on this page is widely considered to say "poxleber", a historical German word meaning 'goat liver', which is probably the main reason why the first item is considered by some to represent a liver. The female figure either wears a cap or has some elaborate hairdo, and appears very similar in size and style to the figures (so-called 'nymphs') in the zodiac and biological sections. The cleartext writing is very difficult to read, and many different interpretations have been offered. It appears to be a mixture of German and (pseudo-) Latin. The second and third lines have crosses in the shape of a 'plus' between the words, in a way similar to short prayers or incatations found in some manuscripts. The last line appears to end with: "so nim geis mi(l)ch" (German for: "therefore take goat milk"). This reading was proposed already in the 1930's by Richard Salomon, and supported by Erwin Panofsky. The handwriting of this extraneaous text is Gothic, and appears to be from the first half of the 15th century, as determined by Marco Ponzi and Koen Gheuens. In my personal view, the closest parallel is found in a 15th century manuscript in the Heidelberg library: Pal.Germ.647, which dates from 1445-1460. Another (older) parallel is this IMAGE: 15th Century German alphabet table. Other information Goat liver can be found in classical recipes against night blindness. People have considered that these few lines could just be pen trials.