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f57v and You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. – The Primer Analogy (German: Fibel)
I am aware that many of these approaches have already been examined individually. What is particularly important here is the physical connection between You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. and f66r. These pages were therefore not randomly selected to fit the idea; they already share a historical/physical connection (bifolium).
What I could not find in my research was an analogy between a primer (German: "Fibel", a traditional first-grade reading textbook) and the diagram on f57v. I therefore want to emphasize that I am not trying to take credit for other people's ideas, but rather to combine existing ideas with my own.
In this primer analogy, You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. could represent a second-grade language textbook. The two pages would not necessarily have to be directly connected through readable text, but they could still be connected in terms of their meaning. What do I mean by this?
The following could therefore be possible: a didactic guide can contain repetitions, variations, isolated characters, combined units, and complete sentences right next to each other, without all of them serving the same function.
What the primer actually demonstrates (with german example)
→ P p
= Basic forms
The purpose here is to introduce characters. The same letter appears in uppercase and lowercase, as well as in different writing styles (print and cursive).
→ Pa – pa
= Syllable formation
The purpose here is to demonstrate construction. One character is combined with another already familiar character. This creates a readable unit.
→ Papa
= Word formation
This demonstrates the principle of repetition and combination. Two instances of "Pa" form a complete word.
→ Papa ist am …
= Application
Here, context is introduced. The same building blocks are then used in larger structures.
In the photographic example of a first-grade primer, the right-hand column shows the variations Papa, Pap, Pa, P, Pa, Pap, Papa. This demonstrates how something can be broken down and put back together, showing the logic behind the letters, syllables, and the word. However, "Pap" represents an intermediate element that only serves the formation of the word later on, without having a meaning of its own in the language. We only know this because we can read the language. With f57v, this is precisely the knowledge we are missing.
The difference between my interpretation of the rings and Matsuta's interpretation is, in my view, that he would already assign the procedures according to the positions of the rings. I see it more as a compact way of showing how the rings might interact to form a kind of "instruction manual".
If we consider the four rings in a way similar to Llull, several possibilities arise:
BUT: The primer example also shows that these functions do not necessarily have to be distributed across four separate rings. Several functions can already appear within a single learning unit.
Nevertheless, one could conclude from this that repetitions and deviations within the ring sequences are not necessarily errors or meaningful textual variants. They could simply be systematically demonstrating the different possibilities.
One could also ask whether the characters are only combined linguistically, or whether they might also serve as a basic graphical arrangement or a construction principle for gallows and benched gallows. However, to investigate this, we would probably first need to understand the basic forms.
One logical, didactic consequence could be:
R2 (sequence of forms) → R4 (basic elements) → R3 (process of transformation) → R1 (formation of variants).
This sequence follows more of a logical progression if we stay with the primer analogy. But why a different order? If R1 is the ring of variants, it might need more space because several variants would have to be shown in greater detail. R2, on the other hand, needs space for its 68 character positions.
The idea of placing the sequence of forms before the basic elements comes from the primer analogy. It does not necessarily have to begin with the traditional ABC. It is conceivable that a limited selection of characters and their sequence could first be introduced, before explaining their structure, transformation, or combination.
However: This would first have to be confirmed by a statistical or paleographic investigation.
Theoretically, the unusual features identified by Matsuta might even support this idea ({&169} on f57v, {&170} on f57v, {&171} on f57v, and {&172} on both You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. and f66r).
The three characters described only on You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. could indicate a special function of this diagram page. The additional occurrence of {&172} reported on f66r, on the other hand, could be a possible concrete connection between the two pages. Taken together, this might also point towards an "instruction manual" or a "learning path".
f66r
If we now consider You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. as a possible example of application, the question arises whether the three text areas might also serve different functions. Similar to the primer, they would not necessarily have to show the same content, but could represent different steps or variations of a common procedure.
Lisa Fagin Davis's study (2020) is also interesting in this context. Although You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. and You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. belong to the same bifolium, Davis assigns the two pages to different scribal hands (Hand 1 and Hand 5). This could point towards collaboration or at least different stages of work. Whether this also has any significance for the content naturally remains an open question.
Koen G. also pointed out the unusual characteristics of Quire 8 on the Voynich Ninja forum (October 2025). What stands out is that the connection often observed between scribal hand, Currier language, and page type does not entirely follow the usual pattern here. You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. in particular occupies an unusual position. Whether this has any significance for a possible connection to You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. would first need to be investigated.
Another interesting aspect of this folio is the large number of simple relationships between variants.
The five paragraphs on You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. could also be compared structurally. Could different exercise or application steps be identified in connection with my assumption?
To what extent a tabular arrangement in three columns establishes a relationship between them is something I cannot demonstrate as a fact. It is possible that columns 1 and 2 form a kind of construction kit that serves as a reading or construction aid for column 3.
Alternatively, even a fixed relationship between horizontal divisions and vertical columns would be conceivable. This could be based on the five graphically apparent paragraphs (attached PDF, page 2, illustration "A"), or on further subdivisions within those five paragraphs involving characters from the respective column(s) (attached PDF, page 2, illustration "B").
It would also be conceivable that, under the assumption of a "Frame-Core Hypothesis" (German: "Rahmen-Kern-These"), the page might demonstrate by example how the definition of columns 1 and 2 affects the context in column 3.
My personal opinion is that the arrangement of the three columns was deliberate and was not added afterwards.
To test this hypothesis, however, a statistical analysis and, ideally, a paleographic investigation would be necessary. I would cautiously point out that purely statistical comparisons could potentially misinterpret the context of the primer analogy, since a direct repetition or correspondence between instructions and application does not necessarily have to be present. The important question would therefore be which relationships should actually be tested.
Interesting historical examples related to the primer analogy
1. Donatus, Ars minor, and Alexander de Villa Dei, Doctrinale
These works taught basic rules of grammar. They did not simply present reading texts, but organized learning around grammatical rules.
2. Ramon Llull – Ars brevis, 1308
Perhaps the most interesting candidate in this context: learning through regulated positions in circular diagrams. The diagram was therefore not merely used as an illustration, but as a tool.
Furthermore, it could have been known to an author (or authors) of MS 408. Other aspects of its content are also remarkable when considered in relation to MS 408.
Source: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
Already discussed in the Voynich Ninja threads "The Lullian Apophatic Machine" (03/2026) and "A Cusanus Ladin Hypothesis" (07/2022).
Further sources
René Zandbergen – Voynich MS, Quire 8
Documentation of the shared bifolium f57/f66, the ring structure on f57v, and the division of the text on f66r.
Jorge Stolfi – Interlinear Transcription of the Voynich Manuscript
Transcription comparisons and descriptions of the unusual character forms and column structure on f66r.
Lisa Fagin Davis (2020) – "How Many Glyphs and How Many Scribes? Digital Paleography and the Voynich Manuscript." Manuscript Studies, Vol. 5, No. 1.
Mitsuro Matsuta (2026) – "Structural Analysis of the Voynich Manuscript: Elucidating a Knowledge System through Statistical Methods." Preprint, March 2026. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19058612.
Koen G. (2025) – Post #14, October 9, 2025, in the Voynich Ninja thread "Looking at You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. in regards to the line as a functional unit." Discussion of the unusual combinations of scribal hand, Currier language, and page type within Quire 8, particularly You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. and the f57/f66 bifolium.
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
Translation note: This post was originally written in German and translated into English with the assistance of AI. The ideas, hypotheses, interpretations, and conclusions are my own.
What I could not find in my research was an analogy between a primer (German: "Fibel", a traditional first-grade reading textbook) and the diagram on f57v. I therefore want to emphasize that I am not trying to take credit for other people's ideas, but rather to combine existing ideas with my own.
In this primer analogy, You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. could represent a second-grade language textbook. The two pages would not necessarily have to be directly connected through readable text, but they could still be connected in terms of their meaning. What do I mean by this?
The following could therefore be possible: a didactic guide can contain repetitions, variations, isolated characters, combined units, and complete sentences right next to each other, without all of them serving the same function.
What the primer actually demonstrates (with german example)
→ P p
= Basic forms
The purpose here is to introduce characters. The same letter appears in uppercase and lowercase, as well as in different writing styles (print and cursive).
→ Pa – pa
= Syllable formation
The purpose here is to demonstrate construction. One character is combined with another already familiar character. This creates a readable unit.
→ Papa
= Word formation
This demonstrates the principle of repetition and combination. Two instances of "Pa" form a complete word.
→ Papa ist am …
= Application
Here, context is introduced. The same building blocks are then used in larger structures.
In the photographic example of a first-grade primer, the right-hand column shows the variations Papa, Pap, Pa, P, Pa, Pap, Papa. This demonstrates how something can be broken down and put back together, showing the logic behind the letters, syllables, and the word. However, "Pap" represents an intermediate element that only serves the formation of the word later on, without having a meaning of its own in the language. We only know this because we can read the language. With f57v, this is precisely the knowledge we are missing.
The difference between my interpretation of the rings and Matsuta's interpretation is, in my view, that he would already assign the procedures according to the positions of the rings. I see it more as a compact way of showing how the rings might interact to form a kind of "instruction manual".
If we consider the four rings in a way similar to Llull, several possibilities arise:
- - One ring could introduce individual building blocks.- Another could show variations or possible combinations.- A further ring could contain more complex constructions.- The last could represent applications or another stage of processing.
BUT: The primer example also shows that these functions do not necessarily have to be distributed across four separate rings. Several functions can already appear within a single learning unit.
Nevertheless, one could conclude from this that repetitions and deviations within the ring sequences are not necessarily errors or meaningful textual variants. They could simply be systematically demonstrating the different possibilities.
One could also ask whether the characters are only combined linguistically, or whether they might also serve as a basic graphical arrangement or a construction principle for gallows and benched gallows. However, to investigate this, we would probably first need to understand the basic forms.
One logical, didactic consequence could be:
R2 (sequence of forms) → R4 (basic elements) → R3 (process of transformation) → R1 (formation of variants).
This sequence follows more of a logical progression if we stay with the primer analogy. But why a different order? If R1 is the ring of variants, it might need more space because several variants would have to be shown in greater detail. R2, on the other hand, needs space for its 68 character positions.
The idea of placing the sequence of forms before the basic elements comes from the primer analogy. It does not necessarily have to begin with the traditional ABC. It is conceivable that a limited selection of characters and their sequence could first be introduced, before explaining their structure, transformation, or combination.
However: This would first have to be confirmed by a statistical or paleographic investigation.
Theoretically, the unusual features identified by Matsuta might even support this idea ({&169} on f57v, {&170} on f57v, {&171} on f57v, and {&172} on both You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. and f66r).
The three characters described only on You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. could indicate a special function of this diagram page. The additional occurrence of {&172} reported on f66r, on the other hand, could be a possible concrete connection between the two pages. Taken together, this might also point towards an "instruction manual" or a "learning path".
f66r
If we now consider You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. as a possible example of application, the question arises whether the three text areas might also serve different functions. Similar to the primer, they would not necessarily have to show the same content, but could represent different steps or variations of a common procedure.
Lisa Fagin Davis's study (2020) is also interesting in this context. Although You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. and You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. belong to the same bifolium, Davis assigns the two pages to different scribal hands (Hand 1 and Hand 5). This could point towards collaboration or at least different stages of work. Whether this also has any significance for the content naturally remains an open question.
Koen G. also pointed out the unusual characteristics of Quire 8 on the Voynich Ninja forum (October 2025). What stands out is that the connection often observed between scribal hand, Currier language, and page type does not entirely follow the usual pattern here. You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. in particular occupies an unusual position. Whether this has any significance for a possible connection to You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. would first need to be investigated.
Another interesting aspect of this folio is the large number of simple relationships between variants.
The five paragraphs on You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. could also be compared structurally. Could different exercise or application steps be identified in connection with my assumption?
To what extent a tabular arrangement in three columns establishes a relationship between them is something I cannot demonstrate as a fact. It is possible that columns 1 and 2 form a kind of construction kit that serves as a reading or construction aid for column 3.
Alternatively, even a fixed relationship between horizontal divisions and vertical columns would be conceivable. This could be based on the five graphically apparent paragraphs (attached PDF, page 2, illustration "A"), or on further subdivisions within those five paragraphs involving characters from the respective column(s) (attached PDF, page 2, illustration "B").
It would also be conceivable that, under the assumption of a "Frame-Core Hypothesis" (German: "Rahmen-Kern-These"), the page might demonstrate by example how the definition of columns 1 and 2 affects the context in column 3.
My personal opinion is that the arrangement of the three columns was deliberate and was not added afterwards.
To test this hypothesis, however, a statistical analysis and, ideally, a paleographic investigation would be necessary. I would cautiously point out that purely statistical comparisons could potentially misinterpret the context of the primer analogy, since a direct repetition or correspondence between instructions and application does not necessarily have to be present. The important question would therefore be which relationships should actually be tested.
Interesting historical examples related to the primer analogy
1. Donatus, Ars minor, and Alexander de Villa Dei, Doctrinale
These works taught basic rules of grammar. They did not simply present reading texts, but organized learning around grammatical rules.
2. Ramon Llull – Ars brevis, 1308
Perhaps the most interesting candidate in this context: learning through regulated positions in circular diagrams. The diagram was therefore not merely used as an illustration, but as a tool.
Furthermore, it could have been known to an author (or authors) of MS 408. Other aspects of its content are also remarkable when considered in relation to MS 408.
Source: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
Already discussed in the Voynich Ninja threads "The Lullian Apophatic Machine" (03/2026) and "A Cusanus Ladin Hypothesis" (07/2022).
Further sources
René Zandbergen – Voynich MS, Quire 8
Documentation of the shared bifolium f57/f66, the ring structure on f57v, and the division of the text on f66r.
Jorge Stolfi – Interlinear Transcription of the Voynich Manuscript
Transcription comparisons and descriptions of the unusual character forms and column structure on f66r.
Lisa Fagin Davis (2020) – "How Many Glyphs and How Many Scribes? Digital Paleography and the Voynich Manuscript." Manuscript Studies, Vol. 5, No. 1.
Mitsuro Matsuta (2026) – "Structural Analysis of the Voynich Manuscript: Elucidating a Knowledge System through Statistical Methods." Preprint, March 2026. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19058612.
Koen G. (2025) – Post #14, October 9, 2025, in the Voynich Ninja thread "Looking at You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. in regards to the line as a functional unit." Discussion of the unusual combinations of scribal hand, Currier language, and page type within Quire 8, particularly You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. and the f57/f66 bifolium.
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
Translation note: This post was originally written in German and translated into English with the assistance of AI. The ideas, hypotheses, interpretations, and conclusions are my own.