Poggio theory as presented by Claudio Foti: more evidence

[MarcoP]

This idea could explain the co-presence of Italian and German elements in the VMS: this is a problem that I find fascinating, but that is often ignored.
On the other hand, a very specific theory, mentioning the involvement of a single individual in the creation of the ms, requires a huge amount of evidence to be credible. The majority of the VMS is devoted to plants: do we have any documentation about Bracciolini's botanical expertise?

In my opinion, as proposed by Toresella and Touwaide, the ms is closer to medicine handbooks made for actual use than to the formal, costly manuscripts produced for courts. Consider the following points:

• the format of the ms is medium-small, while kingly manuscripts tend to be large
  
• the quality of the parchment is not high, with holes in several pages
  
• the layout of the pages is informal, with no page borders or line rulings
  
• no gilding; color initials are almost completely absent
  
• human figures are often distorted and anatomically incorrect, while kingly manuscripts were illustrated by professional artists
  
• the plants present a high number of zoomorphic and anthropomorphic features; these typically appear in popular herbals and only rarely in scientific “high-end” herbals
  
• the layout of the herbal section is similar to that of XV Century Italian popular herbals (e.g. the often mentioned You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view., Special Collections, University of Vermont Library)
  

You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. (recently linked by Rene) was given as a gift to King Wenceslas IV (Sigismund's half-brother) in 1396 ca. It is an example of a herbal manuscript produced for the court. The size is 433 x 285 millimeters: more than 3 times the size of the Voynich ms.
Also, compare the layout precision and figure quality of You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. with those of the 1280 ca You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. made for Alfonso X.


Examples of more popular, utilitarian manuscripts could be:

• The English medical almanac You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. (1400 ca)
  
• You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. Iatromathematical housebook  “Most likely an amateur doctor with an interest in astronomy, from the Southern region of Germany, wrote the original text around 1400 and assembled it into a compendium”
  
• The most ancient part (1400 ca) of the Italian Herbal UPenn Schoenberg Collection You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.