Wednesday, December 21, 2011

The Curious Case of the Manufactured Manuscripts

An interesting look at the history of created books. The author has an intriguing theory that the Voynich Manuscript may be a historical example of the kind of prop tomes frequently discussed here.

Via Eric Hart's Prop Agenda.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's an intriguing idea, especially as the Voynich has such large images. I'd imagine that when it was made, they were fairly bright as well. So large, vivid images would be easily seen by the audience.

Anonymous said...

Interesting. Though I'd still like to think it's really a genuine magic tome that will one day be deciphered. :)

Anonymous said...

The thing that I find really interesting about the V. manuscript is that people are fascinated with it primarily because it's a mystery. If anyone ever does manage to decipher it (or, in the case of this theory, prove that it can't be deciphered) it'll become just another old codex in a university library that nobody cares about.

Anonymous said...

I think there may be even a simpler explanation: I bet it's a 'portfolio piece'. It's probably something someone worked on to demonstrate their illustrative/illumination abilities.