I think that the Voynich manuscript is a hoax or, more accurately, two hoaxes.
I believe that the manuscript itself was created in the C15th or C16th, probably in England. I think it was deliberately created (rather than being the ravings of a madman or savant) by more than one author (perhaps over some considerable time). Though finiancial gain or an attempt to gain influence and power are the obvious reasons for such a hoax I wonder is the manuscript wasn't created as a distraction from a more “dangerous” (for the time) piece of work -- to be used to buy time or cloud the issue, should the other work be discovered.
The second hoax was actually a forgery and was committed my Wilfred Voynich himself. I believe that he created the Marci letter that pointed the finger at Roger Bacon as a possible author. In doing so, Voynich upped the ante in terms of credence, interest and (potential) financial reward. What interests me the most about the above is this : did Voynich create the letter purely to add a few noughts to the asking price or did he actually suspect that the manuscript was a fake (in terms of content) and forged the letter to confuse other possible doubters?
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