04-08-2018, 08:18 AM
It would also be interesting to know if such books for traveling had any preference for paper vs. parchment folios. The fact that the Voynich MS is on parchment is a very important fact, which is not much discussed.
I could not agree more
I don't think the reason for the Voynich to be written on parchment has anything to do with travelling, it seems, like some other facts, to indicate a provenience from Italy. Italy seems to have used more parchment than paper in the 15th c., there seems to have been an intensive trade in parchment sold from Germany to Italy, it could have something to do with the paper production in the German Southwest (Ravensburg).
In addition to the quotation I gave yesteday: I think that the use of wood for binding books has something to do with the necessity to stabilise big volumes, I don‘t know if you have ever lifted a big parchment bible or missale or Kopialbuch, just try it. It was not necessary to do this for a small book
I could not agree more
I don't think the reason for the Voynich to be written on parchment has anything to do with travelling, it seems, like some other facts, to indicate a provenience from Italy. Italy seems to have used more parchment than paper in the 15th c., there seems to have been an intensive trade in parchment sold from Germany to Italy, it could have something to do with the paper production in the German Southwest (Ravensburg).
In addition to the quotation I gave yesteday: I think that the use of wood for binding books has something to do with the necessity to stabilise big volumes, I don‘t know if you have ever lifted a big parchment bible or missale or Kopialbuch, just try it. It was not necessary to do this for a small book