Modern Hoax... And Spies?

[ReneZ]

Hello VViews, I'm not sure I follow.

The fact that he managed to find all these previously unknown books was a reason for suspicion.
That he didn't have his legendary capabilities of finding them, but he made them himself.

When it turned out that many of these were indeed genuine old books, it was clear that he *did* have this
uncanny capability, and the suspicion was unfounded.
This is regardless of the fact that of some books possibly no other copies were found.
I don't know any numbers, just that the collection of (at the time) unique books in the BL that has his name has about 137 items.

Much of what Blevins writes are just suspicions: "might have owed...", "he was said to have acquired...".
The real trouble with Voynich is that he was a bragster who loved to exaggerate.
That applies both to his personal life and to the importance of the books he had for sale.
Add to that the secrecy surrounding his deal with the Jesuits, and one has a truly confusing situation.

I can recommend reading the chapter in Millicent Sowerby. It gives a first-hand report of Voynich as a person.