The Voynich Manuscript

The Voynich Manuscript plays a key role in Black Voyage and future projects like Transplant and Smile. This item is the McGuffin of both Sophia and Elizabeth. So here I’d like to share so facts about the book and why I picked this book to be the McGuffin of Black Voyage.

Earliest history of the Manuscript

The Manuscript is unofficially confirmed to have been created in the 15th Century.  the illustrations inside appear to have characteristics of both German and Italian illustrations. This suggests that it may have originated in the alpine region. However, the exact location is still unknown and remains speculation.

In the zodiac section of the book there is a name written on the end of every illustration ‘Month’. They are speculated to have appeared sometime after the books creation. The text is written in a ‘romance’ language, possibly French which indicates it was owned in this area during it’s history before it appeared in Prague.  What is unknown.

In 1921 a Wilfrid Voynich was presented the Manuscript. Inside there was a letter written by Prague scientist Johannes Marcus Marci. In the letter they present the book to Jesuit Athanasius Kircher in Rome.

This letter also indicates that in the early 17th Century the Manuscript was in Prague and owned by Rudolf II of Habsburg.

This is just a short extract from the history of the Voynich Manuscript, for more information check out  http://www.voynich.nu/history.html for the full history.

Unknown information

As mentioned  in my brief history of the Manuscript alot of things are unknown. This element drew me to the book more as it meant I could create a history for the book that doesn’t have to stick to a rigged timeline.

Elements of the manuscripts history I kept in canon were the century in as created as an element of the Book’s origin is explored in Black Voyage. Another element I kept was the Zodiac section of the book however, I made some changes. I did not use our Zodiac but spirit animals and ritualistic symbols. These were chosen instead as I wanted the pages to represent elements of Elizabeth’s personality and the personality of Characters that will appear in future Covenant of Arcana comics.

These pages can be seen before the comic is released on My pateron.

https://www.patreon.com/mosby

 

Why is the Voynich in Black Voyage?

I decided to include the Voynich in Black Voyage as a McGuffin. When I was writing, I needed a book to bring Elizabeth back from the dead, I originally planned for the book to be unnamed but as the story progressed the book became an essential role in the narrative of Black Voyage.

So I researched ancient texts until I found the Manuscript, this gave the book a grounded element and a real element. The book will be included in more stories so I thought the text I will be referencing should be real.

 

Black Voyage will be the start of Voynich Manuscript’s history in the Covenant of Arcana universe.