Herbier de Moudon (Lausanne IS 3005)

[RenegadeHealer]

The P-word is "pour" (English: for) and it's sometimes abbreviated (both the "Item" and the "pour"). "Item" is the abbreviation hanging in the margin to the left of "pour".


In Latin, it's very common to see the abbreviation for "post" as the first word in paragraphs. In Greek, there is often an abbreviation for "Peri", so Latin and Greek manuscripts often have a P-word at the beginning, as well.

Hmm... reminds me of a certain glyph that happens to start an awful lot of pages and paragraphs in a certain mysterious book I know. So frequently that some say it’s likely a pilcrow. 

I’d just like to point out once again (as both you and R. Sale are fond of doing) that the VMs seems to be absolutely full of Easter eggs for people familiar with writing and drawing conventions of the time. Whether they’re parodies or subversions or hints or have some other communicative use, the fact is, for the educated and hip, the VMs seems to be full of subtle references to other pieces of culture. Discussing the VMs with people who know the artistic and literary canon of Western Civilization very well, gives me kind of a similar feeling to watching a Quentin Tarantino movie with a serious B-list slasher film buff. Or going to a Phish concert with someone who’s a serious music nerd, and knows their classic rock well. In all three cases, I feel quickly humbled and out of my depth, and resist frustratedly concluding There’s a lot going over my head here. I don’t think I’m hip enough to appreciate this.