Voynich Manuscript (early 1500s)

“Written in Central Europe at the end of the 15th or during the 16th century, the origin, language, and date of the Voynich Manuscript—named after the Polish-American antiquarian bookseller, Wilfrid M. Voynich, who acquired it in 1912—are still being debated as vigorously as its puzzling drawings and undeciphered text. Described as a magical or scientific text, nearly every page contains botanical, figurative, and scientific drawings of a provincial but lively character, drawn in ink with vibrant washes in various shades of green, brown, yellow, blue, and red.

Based on the subject matter of the drawings, the contents of the manuscript falls into six sections: 1) botanicals containing drawings of 113 unidentified plant species; 2) astronomical and astrological drawings including astral charts with radiating circles, suns and moons, Zodiac symbols such as fish (Pisces), a bull (Taurus), and an archer (Sagittarius), nude females emerging from pipes or chimneys, and courtly figures; 3) a biological section containing a myriad of drawings of miniature female nudes, most with swelled abdomens, immersed or wading in fluids and oddly interacting with interconnecting tubes and capsules; 4) an elaborate array of nine cosmological medallions, many drawn across several folded folios and depicting possible geographical forms; 5) pharmaceutical drawings of over 100 different species of medicinal herbs and roots portrayed with jars or vessels in red, blue, or green, and 6) continuous pages of text, possibly recipes, with star-like flowers marking each entry in the margins.” (source)

240 pages
via Archive.org

wikipedia

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Detailed chemical analysis of the Voynich Manuscript (from the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library)

Critical Art Ensemble: Action is Addiction (1992)

A pointed attack on the addiction industry and it’s methods. The pamphlet was placed in hospitals and addition centers. Commissioned be Muranishi/Lederman Gallery, NY, for the Culture Bites exhibition.

Self-published, NY, 1992
via ArtistBooksOnline.org

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Helaine Selin (ed.): Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures (1997)

Here, at last, is the massively updated and augmented second edition of this landmark encyclopedia. The electronic version of this two-volume work contains approximately 1000 entries dealing in depth with the history of the scientific, technological and medical accomplishments of cultures outside of the United States and Europe.

The entries consist of fully updated articles together with hundreds of entirely new topics adorned with full color pictures. This unique reference work includes intercultural articles on broad topics such as mathematics and astronomy as well as thoughtful philosophical articles on concepts and ideas related to the study of non-Western Science, such as rationality, objectivity, and method.

You’ll also find material on religion and science, East and West, and magic and science. This amazing resource even contains entries on fascinating esoteric topics such as Native American mathematics, Polynesian navigation, and African Metallurgy.There are also biographical articles for those cultures where individual scientists are known to us, such as China and the Islamic world.

Publisher Springer, 1997
ISBN 0792340663, 9780792340669
Length 1117 pages

More info (publisher)
More info (google books)

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