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Professor Brumbaugh's theory
- Professor Brumbaugh's theory
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Professor Brumbaugh's theory
Searcher > 15-02-2018, 10:22 PM
I reread D'Imperio's The Voynich manuscript: an elegant enigma (Thanks to Rene Zandbergen for reminding). Now I have time to learn more concernicng the other theories about the Elixir of life. I've found in D'Imperio a short description of professor Brumbaugh's theory: "... the manuscript as a treatise on the «Elixir of Life «, designed to interest the Emperor Rudolph II by a forger who wished to make it appear to be the work of Roger Bacon. An ”encyclopedic sequence of drugs», possibly compiled from a variety of earlier manuscripts, is followed by astrological lore: the folios featuring nude female figures may deal. Brumbaugh thinks, with «the biology of reproduction, the theology of psychic reincarnation, or the topical application of the elixir». (1975. pp, 348-349). (You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view., M. E. D’Imperio, p. 22)
I want to adress to Rene and to all forum members who could help. Is it possible to find free-available articles about Brumbaugh's theory in details (in English or translatable with Google)? Of course, 70's was not the time when the internet, blogs and on-line libraries existed, but, maybe, somewhere his articles are saved. I've found only article in which he was criticized for his method of deciphering (May 6, 1975, The New York Times Archives, Page 41, the article You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.) and his paid book The Most Mysterious Manuscript: The Voynich "Roger Bacon" Cipher Manuscript. Brumbaugh's theory, as I understand, was quite much-talked-of in that time. I’d like to know the details as it pretty interests me, although I don't believe that the VMs is a hoax in any sense of this word. -
RE: Professor Brumbaugh's theory
-JKP- > 16-02-2018, 01:50 AM
I haven't read Brumbaugh's writings other than references to them by other people, but after seeing your post, I checked JStor and found the following papers online (I don't know how much these papers duplicate what is in his larger writing, I haven't read them yet, but thought I would let you know in case you are interested):
Botany and the Voynich "Roger Bacon" Manuscript Once More
The Voynich 'Roger Bacon' Cipher Manuscript: Deciphered Maps of Stars -
RE: Professor Brumbaugh's theory
ReneZ > 16-02-2018, 06:31 AM
Brumbaugh published a book in 1978, of which I am listing the You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. .
All contributions that are not his are reprints of existing papers.
Besides the two papers listed by JPK there is also:
The solution of the Voynich 'Roger Bacon cipher', Yale library Gazette XLIX, IV, 1975, pp.347-355
There are ways of getting limited access to JSTOR articles: maximum 3 every two weeks, and not all articles are available in this manner:
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
D'Imperio made a short summary of Brumbaugh's method in her 1976 Seminar. I am not sure if this is available on-line anywhere, but there should be no problem in sharing it. This has already been done for the main presentation of that event: the work of Currier. -
RE: Professor Brumbaugh's theory
-JKP- > 16-02-2018, 06:51 AM
I just read the Brumbaugh star-names article.
Ugh. You can see my commentary here: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
I prefer not to include links to my blog on forum threads but it will save you time in trying to figure out what the heck he was talking about in the article if you look at the Pisces diagram I uploaded to illustrate his "decipherment". -
RE: Professor Brumbaugh's theory
ReneZ > 16-02-2018, 06:58 AM
Many years ago Jim Reeds tried to retrace Brumbaugh's steps, and had to come to the conclusion that he used different tables in his various papers. -
RE: Professor Brumbaugh's theory
-JKP- > 16-02-2018, 07:07 AM
(16-02-2018, 06:58 AM)ReneZ Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Many years ago Jim Reeds tried to retrace Brumbaugh's steps, and had to come to the conclusion that he used different tables in his various papers.
René, I wouldn't be at all surprised. I can't prove it, but I got the feeling, while working through his system on the "star names" in this article that his claim that the rest of the labels were the same thing repeated was rationalizing the fact that his system couldn't generalize beyond the first few (which is the problem most researchers encounter), and thus he came up with an "explanation" for the problem (and a table with many alternate readings for each glyph) rather than going back to the drawing board to create a system that would work for a larger block of text.
Perhaps the various papers were attempts to go back to the drawing board but worked only in a limited way. I guess I'll have a better sense of what he was doing on other sections of the manuscript when I've worked through a few more articles... if I have time. -
RE: Professor Brumbaugh's theory
Searcher > 16-02-2018, 11:09 PM
Thanks, Rene and JKP!
I see that the VMs cipher (text) forces even professional codebrakers to make doubtful steps in deciphering, to say nothing of such amateurs as me :-)
I tried to understand how he came to his theory.
It seems natural that many people follow their knowledge about the examined object which exists in some period of time, and this knowledge with addition of a personal visual impression form a general theory. As a result, their deciphering gives those words that they want to find there.
As I can't read all Brumbaugh's writings, I can only guess that Brumbaugh's assumtion was based on his belief and knowledge for that time that the manuscript was written by Roger Bacon or made to look like. So, keeping Bacon in his mind, he could compare the Quire 13 only to Bacon's idea about the elixir of life. I've read a few Bacon's works and I can't find any hint that corresponds with my and other's observations on the VMs. Of course, it could be explained as his high secrecy concerning alchemical knowledges.
Sometimes I think that the VMs images only hamper in deciphering, but sometimes - that they can say all without the text... -
RE: Professor Brumbaugh's theory
ReneZ > 17-02-2018, 10:08 AM
Robert Brumbaugh was a respected scholar in ancient philosophy, and best known for his work on Plato. His background in code breaking is completely unknown to me.
His proposed solution is now 40 years old, has not made a great impact, and for me only has a historical "value". It may seem surprising nowadays that D'Imperio is writing rather favourably about it. It even made the cover illustration of her monograph "an elegant enigma". This is undoubtedly due to the fact that, when her book was published, Brumbaugh was alive and well, a respected professor at Yale University, and also publishing a book about the MS. -
RE: Professor Brumbaugh's theory
bi3mw > 31-07-2023, 04:29 PM
I have recently been looking again at the work of Brumbaugh. There are two articles on JSTOR ( mentioned by JKP ). Here are the links:
The Solution of the Voynich "Roger Bacon" Cipher
The Yale University Library Gazette, Vol. 49, No. 4 (April 1975), pp. 347-355 (9 pages)
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
Botany and the Voynich "Roger Bacon" Manuscript Once More
Speculum, Vol. 49, No. 3 (Jul., 1974), pp. 546-548 (3 pages)
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One must be logged in to fully access the papers.
Edit: If you are looking for a cheap copy of the book you will find it here:
The Most Mysterious Manuscript: The Voynich "Roger Bacon" Cipher Manuscript.
by BRUMBAUGH, Robert S.,Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale, 1978, USA.
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. -
RE: Professor Brumbaugh's theory
bi3mw > 10-08-2023, 02:10 PM
The above vendor of the book is reputable. I received a copy today.
I can scan Brumbaugh's contributions if there is interest.