Manuscript copies of books by Nicole Oresme

The Erfurt manuscript, sample 2

[...] possible est quod numquam
[...]coniugi in eternitate nisi semel. Et eodem modo dico quod non est
quod unum eorum alteris duobus directe opponatur. Et multa alia sequitur ex hac conclusione.
[P] lura mobilia se habere aliquando sicut prius se habuerunt
contingit tribus modis: aut coniunctione vel oppositione et tunc non faciunt angulum vel
angulos; in alia dispositione et tunc circa centrum describunt angulos. Coniunctio sit uno
solo modo et oppositio similiter. Alia dispositio dupliciter: uno modo ante coniunctionem seu oppositionem;
alio modo post oppositionem et coniunctionem.
Dispositiones angulares [...]
ambe sunt post [...]

This sample is from the second book, Ad pauca respicientes (end of Part I and beginning of Part II).

Note again the "hole" left for the capital P. I wonder whether those holes were really meant to be filled later, or whether it was just standard copyst's practice to preserve the indentation of the original (in case line breaks and alignment were important). I think the latter would make business sense for a pay-per-page hired copyst. (Is anyone old enough to have had a paper typed by a hired typist?)

Note also the distinctive lettering used for the line Plura mobilia.... The same font was used for the first line of every paragraph, at least on this page. This special graphic treatment of paragraph-initial lines is relevant to Voynichology, because the "P" gallows seem to be another instance of this scribal custom.


Last edited on 97-09-07 by stolfi.