Just for completeness, earlier I wrote:
In fact, the part that seems missing in Section 4.4 is actually included in Section 6.3.
The short summary is that a manuscripts originating from the library of Mathias Corvinus, that was seen in the Jesuit library of the Collegium Romanum, included the most life-like portraits of both the king and the queen. Hungarian historians have been looking for it in vain in Rome after the suppression of the society. They knew it should have been in the state library that included the confiscated material, but it was not. They managed to track down another Corvinus MS that had moved from Rome to the Jesuit library in Wien-Lainz.
It seems inevitable that the Jesuits were aware of the cultural value of this manuscript for the Hungarians. Whether they were also interested in obtaining a higher price than the Vatican could afford remains speculation. In any case, it was sold to a private book dealer, who passed it on to another dealer, who immediately took it to Hungary where it was offered for sale. There, it was immediately recognised as the MS that used to be in the Collegium Romanum and was deemed lost. They really wanted to have it, but an American banker outbid them.
This is for me the first plausible explanation why a private book dealer (Voynich) was allowed to become involved in this deal at all.
Quote:(Edit: I just noted that the Section 4.4 I mentioned above is not yet complete. Will be updated soon.)
In fact, the part that seems missing in Section 4.4 is actually included in Section 6.3.
The short summary is that a manuscripts originating from the library of Mathias Corvinus, that was seen in the Jesuit library of the Collegium Romanum, included the most life-like portraits of both the king and the queen. Hungarian historians have been looking for it in vain in Rome after the suppression of the society. They knew it should have been in the state library that included the confiscated material, but it was not. They managed to track down another Corvinus MS that had moved from Rome to the Jesuit library in Wien-Lainz.
It seems inevitable that the Jesuits were aware of the cultural value of this manuscript for the Hungarians. Whether they were also interested in obtaining a higher price than the Vatican could afford remains speculation. In any case, it was sold to a private book dealer, who passed it on to another dealer, who immediately took it to Hungary where it was offered for sale. There, it was immediately recognised as the MS that used to be in the Collegium Romanum and was deemed lost. They really wanted to have it, but an American banker outbid them.
This is for me the first plausible explanation why a private book dealer (Voynich) was allowed to become involved in this deal at all.