Last edited on 1998-12-29 05:23:09 by stolfi

Reeds/Landini's interlinear file in EVA, version 1.6e6

This is a new version of the the Reeds/Landini interlinear VMS transcription. The main improvements over version 16e5 are:

I also also transcribed on my own a few additional pages, revised the initial comments, and rationalized the numbering of lines in some pages (especially the nine-rosette fold-out).

The files

The release is available as:

You can also get only the comments that describe each page:

Finally, you may want to get a machine-readable index file that lists the text units and their attributes, in their logical order; and extensive comments describing the main differences between this version and Landini's original file.

The interlinear files are in EVMT standard format, exxcept that in the file-per-unit archives (arch16e6.tgz, arch16e6.zip) the page header lines have been commented out with `## '.

The alphabet is basic EVA, uncapitalized. Weirdoes are transcribed as "*" or some close approximation in basic EVA, often with their extended EVA code in {}-comments, e.g. qo*{&178}eedy.

Why?

For the last couple of years the reference electronic edition of the VMS was Gabriel Landini interlinear file (interln16.evt), which contains transcriptions done by Friedman, Currier, Tiltman, and others (most of them compiled by Jim Reeds and Jacques Guy).

Although it was produced mainly as an archival compilation of those early transcription efforts, Landini's interlinear is also the largest and best-documented sample of VMs text that is publicly available. However, because of its archival purpose, Landini's file uses the FSG encoding of the Voynich alphabet, and does not include many recent transcriptions.

For most of my analysis work, I have been using using this hacked version of Landini's interlinear, which I translated the new European Voynich Alphabet (EVA), and gradually expanded with new material.

With the inclusion of Takeshi Takahashi's independent and (almost) complete transcription, this is now the most complete electronic edition of the VMS avaliable. In fact, it seems that over 99% of the surviving text is now covered by the interlinear, and over 98% of it is covered by at least two transcriptions. Moreover, now that all the versions have been synchronized, we can easily compare them, create consensus or majority editions, etc. etc.

Presumably other Voynichologists will find this file useful, that is why I am posting it here. Let me add however that this file is not meant to be a replacement for the Reeds/Landini inerlinear (an historical document about the efforts of Friedman and co.), and neither to duplicate the EVMT transcription effort (which will be a *double-checked* transcription, hence far more accurate than any of the versions in this file).

Main differences between versions 1.6e5 and 1.6e6

Permissions

Takeshi reports that the Beinecke library does not see his transcription as infringing on their license constraints, and he kindly allowed me to merge his file into the interlinear. My own transcriptions are derived from from sources that (to my knowledge) do not have such constraints.

As far as I am concerned, you are free to copy, use, modify, and republish these files in any way you wish, provided that you give all due credit, and you do not try to impose any other conditions or copyrights on these files, or any derived files.

Error reports

Beware that the merging of Takeshi's version required a non-trivial amount of reformatting and reordering. So please send in your error reports, but please try not to waste his time with reports of my mistakes.