My memory is still fine, and I remember that this very same question has already been discussed here in two threads, both of which were locked by the moderators:
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I am not sure what it will bring to re-open this discussion. Anyway...
First of all, if the request is for references, these can be provided:
1) The reference that states that the MS was acquired by Rudolf II is, of course, Marci's 1665 letter to Kircher, preserved as MS 408A in the Beinecke Rare Book and MS Library of Yale University.
2) A reference that shows that Mnisowsky could very well have known about Rudolf's acquisition of the MS is his 1630 letter to Ferdinand II, preserved in Vienna, Haus- Hof und Staatsarchiv, Hausarchiv (Fam.Korr.A, Kart. 8, ff.279-84)
3) A reference that clearly states that Marci's memory was fine in 1665 is:
Servít, Zdeněk: Jan Marek Marci z Kronlandu, zapomenutý zakladatel novověké fysiologie a medicíny, Bratislava, Veda, 1989, page 57.
Notes:
- the statement that Mnisowsky "could not have known" something is very difficult to maintain. It is almost impossible to prove. It is countered by evidence that he "could very well have known". No need to prove that he did know.
- Servit, generally seen in the Czech repubic as the ultimate specialist on Marci (e.g. by his surviving co-researcher Josef Smolka, and by modern historians such as Petr Svobodny), was fully aware of the relevant letters by Marci and Kinner, which he quotes. He also considers the cause of Marci's death to have been a stroke.
Secondly I have two points to criticise about the You are not allowed to view links.
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1) The main question isn't phrased very accurately:
Quote:The item states that the manuscript was 'known to have been in Rudolf's library'.
Actually, it states (more correctly) that it was known to have been in his 'collection'. This just means he owned it. He had at least three collections of books, of which only the imperial library in Vienna is well documented. More about this very relevant topic can be read in:
Richterová, A.: Alchemical Manuscripts in the collections of Rudolf II. In: Purš and Karpenko (2016), pp. 249-291.
2) I seriously doubt the attribution of the statement: "It was also Philip Neal who made the observation that Mnishovsky (Raphael) could not have witnessed that event himself". Until now, this has always been stated as: "It was Philip Neal - I believe - who made the observation....".
I don't know why this belief is now a statement and I would appreciate a reference. Knowing Philip, he is very accurate and reliable in his statements, and the best and most accurate version of this statement would be that it is unlikely that Mnisowsky witnessed it. Again, a reference is needed.
Lastly:
while in the context of the Voynich MS Marci is not much more than one of its historical owners, and not a great deal is known about him by Voynich MS researchers, in the context of Czech history he is a person of great importance and interest.
While the scientific revolution in Europe took place, Bohemia was quite isolated and did not play any significant role in this. The main exception is precisely Johannes Marcus Marci. His fight with the Jesuits about embryology and his work on the refraction of light are two examples. His enlightened methods as a practicing physician are another.
His life has been studied for over a hundred years now, and this study picked up significantly at the 300-th anniversary of his death, leading to the publication:
Nový, Luboš and Jaroslav Folta (eds.): Acta historiae rerum naturalium necnon technicarum. Special issue 3, Prague, 1967.
This has contributions from Zdenek Servit and Josef Smolka, who were already mentioned above.
Smolka went to Rome and was one of the first (perhaps even the very first) to research the letters from Marci in Kircher's correspondence. He took with him a complete microfilm, which was also used by Servit.
Most of the key references for Marci are listed You are not allowed to view links.
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Login to view. , and there are more, e.g. Garber (2002), Smolka (1970), Smolka (2014), all of which are listed on my page of references.
I believe that none of these references can be found on-line in Google books, archive.org or JSTOR, and they require a trip to a library, probably involving inter-library loan (this was the case for me).
One can of course write anything one likes about Marci, but without having read *any* of the above sources, this will not have much weight.