Furthermore, the material from the paper is complemented by material related more directly to Voynich, from numerous other sources. This is not a translation of this publication, which deals with a wider topic. To provide a single reference for this part of the history of the Voynich MS, superseding previous incomplete or even incorrect publications, in particular also by the author of the present paper. To make the new information in this Italian paper accessible to a non-Italian speaking audience 2. The present paper has two main purposes: 1. The purpose of the present paper is to use this small collection to highlight some of the events related to the complicated history of the confiscation of the Jesuits libraries in Rome, and of the dealings of antiquarian book traders who obtained some of their treasures.Ī recent publication about a manuscript collection in the Vatican library sheds new light on Wilfrid Voynich's acquisition of his famous "Roger Bacon Cipher Manuscript" nowadays simply known as the "Voynich MS". Each of these manuscripts has already been the subject of scholarly discussion. At least one belonged to the library of the humanist Marc Antoine Muret, two were in the library of the Hungarian king Mathias Corvinus, and others in the library of the private physician of Lorenzo de Medici. These approximately 30 manuscripts do not have a common origin. They were offered for sale to the Vatican library in 1903, but the smaller group was instead acquired by the private book dealer Wilfrid Voynich. They were subsequently hidden sometime before 1873. At the start of this period they appear all to have belonged to the main library of the Jesuit Collegium Romanum. These manuscripts were part of a larger collection of some 200 manuscripts throughout at least the 19 th Century, until their sale in the year 1912. This paper does not address the famous "Voynich MS" but a few of the other manuscripts that Voynich acquired at this time. He acquired it in 1912 as part a group of some 30 manuscripts. Wilfrid Voynich's name has forever become associated with the "Voynich MS", an unreadable manuscript from the 15 th century that has defied all attempts of translation, and is one of the main challenges for historical cryptography.
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