Signature Analysis of Johannes Marcus Marci

This is a study in progress of the signatures of Johannes Marcus Marci, examined across every letter located so far that bears one: the full run of his correspondence with Athanasius Kircher preserved in the Kircher Carteggio, together with the Marci Letter bound with the Voynich Manuscript as MS408A. The goal is a close comparative analysis of how Marci’s signature evolved over more than two decades of correspondence, as a basis for evaluating its consistency with the signature on the Marci Letter itself.

The signature block below each dateline was clipped from every available page image and arranged in chronological order by the letter’s date. A small number of images were reviewed and excluded from the set; the reasons are listed beneath the gallery.

Excluded from this set

• APUG_557_082r No signature — 082r ends in body text/diagram; the closing and signature appear only on the facing verso, 082v.
• APUG_557_123r / 123v Both images are the letter’s exterior address leaf (wax seal, “Admodum Rev. P. Athanasio Kircher…”) — the body/closing page for this letter isn’t among the scanned images.
• APUG_557_424r Digital image is cropped at the physical page edge just below the dateline; only an illegible fragment of the closing remains, no usable signature.