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The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci
Almost 500 years since his death, the genius of Leonardo da Vinci has never been rivalled. In the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper, he created the most iconic images in Western art but his brilliance extended well beyond these masterpieces: da Vinci bequeathed the most extraordinarily diverse body of written work ever created by one individual and his notebooks are among the most precious documents in the world.
This commemorative edition of the 1938 Edward MacCurdy compilation includes writing on almost every subject imaginable: anatomy, medicine, engineering, optics, architecture, hydraulics, botany and natural history. His personal notes offer insights into his passions, preoccupations and eccentricities, while a detailed index allows for easy navigation. Almost 100 of his exquisite drawings have been reproduced to exceptionally high quality: preparatory drawings for The Last Supper, anatomical diagrams such as The Vitruvian Man, and sketches of inventions – including his designs for a flying machine, created hundreds of years before others dared dream of flying. Finally, two insightful essays tell us more about da Vinci and his writings: one by da Vinci biographer Charles Nicholl, and the other by the collection translator and editor, Edward MacCurdy.
This commemorative edition of the 1938 Edward MacCurdy compilation includes writing on almost every subject imaginable: anatomy, medicine, engineering, optics, architecture, hydraulics, botany and natural history. His personal notes offer insights into his passions, preoccupations and eccentricities, while a detailed index allows for easy navigation. Almost 100 of his exquisite drawings have been reproduced to exceptionally high quality: preparatory drawings for The Last Supper, anatomical diagrams such as The Vitruvian Man, and sketches of inventions – including his designs for a flying machine, created hundreds of years before others dared dream of flying. Finally, two insightful essays tell us more about da Vinci and his writings: one by da Vinci biographer Charles Nicholl, and the other by the collection translator and editor, Edward MacCurdy.
1432 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1519
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About the author
Leonardo da Vinci
945 books1,498 followersIt was on April 15, 1452, that Leonardo was born in the town of Vinci, Republic of Florence, in what is now in Italy, the illegitimate son of a notary and a barmaid. It is from his birthplace that he is known as Leonardo da Vinci. Leonardo seemed to master every subject to which he turned his attention: he was a painter, draftsman, sculptor, architect, and engineer, wrote poetry and stories: the prototype Renaissance man!
His Last Supper (1495-97) and Mona Lisa (La Gioconda, 1503-06) are among the most popular paintings from the Renaissance. He and his rival Michelangelo did great service to the medical arts by accurate paintings of dissections, which were only occasionally allowed by the Church. Yet, his artistry appeared to be an afterthought, as he frequently left his works unfinished, and only about fifteen of his paintings survive. His notebooks reveal that he was centuries ahead of his time in mechanics and physic, fortifications, bridges, weapons, and river diversions to flood the enemy, which aided Italian city-states in their many wars.
Leonardo was an early evolutionist regarding fossils. Through his careful observations he noted that “if the shells had been carried by the muddy deluge they would have been mixed up, and separated from each other amidst the mud, and not in regular steps and layers — as we see them now in our time.” Leonardo reasoned that what is now dry land, where these aquatic fossils were found, must once have been covered by seawater.
He was for a short time accused of homosexuality: there is no evidence Leonardo had any sexual interest in women. As he wrote in his notebooks, “The act of procreation and anything that has any relation to it is so disgusting that human beings would soon die out if there were no pretty faces and sensuous dispositions.”
And what of his religion? It is significant that at the end of his life he felt he had much spiritual negligence to atone for. His first biographer, Giorgio Vasari, wrote in 1550:
"Finally, …feeling himself near to death, [he] asked to have himself diligently informed of the teaching of the Catholic faith, and of the good way and holy Christian religion; and then, with many moans, he confessed and was penitent; and … was pleased to take devoutly the most holy Sacrament, out of his bed. The King, who was wont often and lovingly to visit him, then came into the room; wherefore he, out of reverence … showed withal how much he had offended God and mankind in not having worked at his art as he should have done."
There was much skepticism in Renaissance Italy at the time, and Leonardo was an intellectual genius, not just an artistic genius. While there was great intellectual freedom during the Italian Renaissance, there were limits as long as the Dominicans, the “Hounds of the Lord,” were active. This semblance of a deathbed conversion, by so critical a thinker and so great a genius as Leonardo, who would have nothing to lose by professing piety all his life, can only mean that during his prime years he was a secret freethinker.
Leonardo died quietly on the 2 of May, 1519, a few weeks following his 67th birthday.
His Last Supper (1495-97) and Mona Lisa (La Gioconda, 1503-06) are among the most popular paintings from the Renaissance. He and his rival Michelangelo did great service to the medical arts by accurate paintings of dissections, which were only occasionally allowed by the Church. Yet, his artistry appeared to be an afterthought, as he frequently left his works unfinished, and only about fifteen of his paintings survive. His notebooks reveal that he was centuries ahead of his time in mechanics and physic, fortifications, bridges, weapons, and river diversions to flood the enemy, which aided Italian city-states in their many wars.
Leonardo was an early evolutionist regarding fossils. Through his careful observations he noted that “if the shells had been carried by the muddy deluge they would have been mixed up, and separated from each other amidst the mud, and not in regular steps and layers — as we see them now in our time.” Leonardo reasoned that what is now dry land, where these aquatic fossils were found, must once have been covered by seawater.
He was for a short time accused of homosexuality: there is no evidence Leonardo had any sexual interest in women. As he wrote in his notebooks, “The act of procreation and anything that has any relation to it is so disgusting that human beings would soon die out if there were no pretty faces and sensuous dispositions.”
And what of his religion? It is significant that at the end of his life he felt he had much spiritual negligence to atone for. His first biographer, Giorgio Vasari, wrote in 1550:
"Finally, …feeling himself near to death, [he] asked to have himself diligently informed of the teaching of the Catholic faith, and of the good way and holy Christian religion; and then, with many moans, he confessed and was penitent; and … was pleased to take devoutly the most holy Sacrament, out of his bed. The King, who was wont often and lovingly to visit him, then came into the room; wherefore he, out of reverence … showed withal how much he had offended God and mankind in not having worked at his art as he should have done."
There was much skepticism in Renaissance Italy at the time, and Leonardo was an intellectual genius, not just an artistic genius. While there was great intellectual freedom during the Italian Renaissance, there were limits as long as the Dominicans, the “Hounds of the Lord,” were active. This semblance of a deathbed conversion, by so critical a thinker and so great a genius as Leonardo, who would have nothing to lose by professing piety all his life, can only mean that during his prime years he was a secret freethinker.
Leonardo died quietly on the 2 of May, 1519, a few weeks following his 67th birthday.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 294 reviews
September 15, 2015
The mind of a painter must resemble a mirror, which always takes the color of the object it reflects and is completely occupied by the images of as many objects are in front of it.
I picked up this book on a whim, and read it for the same reason. My edition is an attractively bound selection of Leonardo’s most interesting notes and drawings, arranged to give the reader an appreciation of the breadth of this quintessential Renaissance man’s interests, and the great scope of his imagination.
I must admit right off the bat that this book is often a bit of a bore to read through. Leonardo’s notes are typically terse and functional—more like grocery lists than diary entries. But the real treat, of course, is seeing Leonardo’s many drawings and studies, reproduced here in color photographs. Simply turning from page to page, taking note of whatever sketch caught your eye, would be enough to convince you that this man was a great genius.
We all knew this already; but determining the exact nature of Leonardo’s genius is, by contrast, a bit more difficult. Of course, he was a great painter, one of the very best; this alone would be enough to secure him lasting fame. But he also distinguished himself—though he wasn’t known for it at the time—for his interest in science and engineering. He did pioneering studies in human anatomy, making drawings so detailed that they could be used in Gray’s Anatomy. He sketched several ideas for inventions, many of them frighteningly futuristic, such as a flying machine and a tank. He made accurate maps and designed buildings and bridges. He even made careful studies of the workings of the eye and the behavior of light.
At first sight, all this seems almost impossible, like Isaac Newton and J.M.W. Turner rolled into one. But Leonardo’s mind wasn’t quite as flexible as the above paragraph might suggest. (Not to detract from his accomplishments, of course.) For example, Leonardo was not especially adept at performing feats of logic or reason; nor was he an experimenter, making careful and controlled tests of his ideas. Aside from his extraordinary creativity, Leonardo’s main asset was his extremely keen, almost supernatural, skill as a visual observer. He had the ability to make his mind a mirror of his environment, and then to accurately and attractively depict whatever phenomenon caught his fancy. Simple as this sounds, this can get you a long way. For instance, if you set yourself the task of drawing a bridge as accurately as possible, this will teach you something about the design of bridges, how they are constructed and bear weight. Do this with everything around you in your daily life, as Leonardo did, and it will force you to pay attention to the way things are put together and teach you how they work.
This is the main lesson Leonardo taught me about becoming a Renaissance man: master a certain medium, whether it be visual, verbal, mathematical, musical, or what have you, and then use this medium as a filter for your experiences. This will allow you to notice things that other people might not, and then to represent your observations in an engaging form. Of course, this strategy wasn’t Leonardo’s only asset; he was also a creative genius. Unfortunately, I’m not familiar with a method for becoming a brilliant innovator. And perhaps, sad as it seems, a mechanism for turning average folks into world-class geniuses is something beyond even Leonardo’s powers.
January 2, 2015
Da Vinci was very specific.
On depicting a battle:
"The air must be full of arrows in every direction." (There follows several pages more of instructions, including bits like, "There must not be a level spot that is not trampled with gore.") (p. 26-28)
And his bits on anatomy are famous enough without me. The distance between the corner of your eye and your ear is the same as the height of your ear. Now you know.
But then, on the less specific side, there's this: "Of grotesque faces I need say nothing, because they are kept in mind without difficulty." (p. 131) So da Vinci's not so different after all, is he? His specificity varies in inverse proportion to his subject's attractiveness. I like boobs.
Unfortunately, "Women must be represented in modest attitude, their legs close together, their arms closely folded, their heads inclined and somewhat on one side" (p. 63), which is not at all what I heard on the internet.
Some of it's amazingly perceptive, and some of it's completely wrong, and some I don't understand at all, but the effect of reading his diary is weird and powerful; more than, say, reading an autobiography tends to be. While he probably knew his journals would be read (he actually addresses "Reader" off and on), he was still writing mainly for himself, so there's a directness.
What comes across most is his curiosity. He'll jot down some weird paragraph about shadows or something, and you understand that this is what he must have done all day today: measure shadows and build shapes and math formulas out of them, because he wanted to know how they work. True, his conclusion was that they send out "dark rays" that bounce into "reflex streams" or something, which I think might be gibberish, but still. What did you do today? I pretty much just thought about boobs.
On depicting a battle:
"The air must be full of arrows in every direction." (There follows several pages more of instructions, including bits like, "There must not be a level spot that is not trampled with gore.") (p. 26-28)
And his bits on anatomy are famous enough without me. The distance between the corner of your eye and your ear is the same as the height of your ear. Now you know.
But then, on the less specific side, there's this: "Of grotesque faces I need say nothing, because they are kept in mind without difficulty." (p. 131) So da Vinci's not so different after all, is he? His specificity varies in inverse proportion to his subject's attractiveness. I like boobs.
Unfortunately, "Women must be represented in modest attitude, their legs close together, their arms closely folded, their heads inclined and somewhat on one side" (p. 63), which is not at all what I heard on the internet.
Some of it's amazingly perceptive, and some of it's completely wrong, and some I don't understand at all, but the effect of reading his diary is weird and powerful; more than, say, reading an autobiography tends to be. While he probably knew his journals would be read (he actually addresses "Reader" off and on), he was still writing mainly for himself, so there's a directness.
What comes across most is his curiosity. He'll jot down some weird paragraph about shadows or something, and you understand that this is what he must have done all day today: measure shadows and build shapes and math formulas out of them, because he wanted to know how they work. True, his conclusion was that they send out "dark rays" that bounce into "reflex streams" or something, which I think might be gibberish, but still. What did you do today? I pretty much just thought about boobs.
November 25, 2018
This is so nice. Given the luxury of time I want to reread this one...
December 2, 2013
Yes, I just added a "homeschool" shelf. Why? Because I am supplementing a bit. Even private schools don't cut the mustard at this point. I have highly creative children--one of which is a constant stream of inventions. He spews out ideas with dry erase markers to windows, takes garbage from the recycling bin as if it is a golden treasure. He even CRIES because he thinks I am wasting a precious gem by recycling a cardboard box or an egg crate. Because "mom--can't you SEE that THIS is CLEARLY an AIRPLANE???". Well, it is clearly time for me to nurture this wee seedling with some other inventors--so I grabbed this book with a few others. We all adore this book and it is an inspiration to us all. :) Make sure to prepare with some extra pencils and paper--because you will be making some extra "blueprints" and maybe even a few extra trips to the hardware store to build some stuff....
March 18, 2012
"Let no man who is not a Mathematician read the elements of my work" - a live testimony that analytical and creative abilities are not as simply polarised as the left-right brain theory.
January 11, 2015
Holy gods. Read this. READ IT. Da Vinci was a bloody genius.
Given that Leonardo never had much of a formal education, and that his intelligence was borne out of observation and imagination, what this book contains is truly astonishing. It blurs what modernity would consider the lines between the arts and the sciences, but I don't think that matters. What really matters is the hard evidence that a self-taught scientist figured out things that were taught to me in my science lessons at school. I'll give you an example. The way light hits and enters the eye. Da Vinci drew a diagram of it and it is so accurate that I found myself staring. Six hundred years later and modern science is using just what Da Vinci figured out. Of course, science has existed for millennia; I'm not suggesting Da Vinci was the father of modern science. But it is wonderful, reading this and going 'I learnt that in school! And he did it without modern technology or formal education!'
His musings on art are just as profound. What a truly remarkable man, and one who was far, far ahead of his time. Just imagine what he could be doing if he were alive today.
Please read this. I really urge you to. It is a fascinating read, and well worth your time.
Given that Leonardo never had much of a formal education, and that his intelligence was borne out of observation and imagination, what this book contains is truly astonishing. It blurs what modernity would consider the lines between the arts and the sciences, but I don't think that matters. What really matters is the hard evidence that a self-taught scientist figured out things that were taught to me in my science lessons at school. I'll give you an example. The way light hits and enters the eye. Da Vinci drew a diagram of it and it is so accurate that I found myself staring. Six hundred years later and modern science is using just what Da Vinci figured out. Of course, science has existed for millennia; I'm not suggesting Da Vinci was the father of modern science. But it is wonderful, reading this and going 'I learnt that in school! And he did it without modern technology or formal education!'
His musings on art are just as profound. What a truly remarkable man, and one who was far, far ahead of his time. Just imagine what he could be doing if he were alive today.
Please read this. I really urge you to. It is a fascinating read, and well worth your time.
April 4, 2017
I do NOT recommend the kindle edition, which cannot do justice to the drawings, to say nothing of Leonardo's mirror-writing. I read in paper.
Leonardo worked as a military engineer for the Sforza, as James McNeil Whistler's father worked for the Czar building a railway. Since my daughter has lived in Milano a quarter century, I have also seen many of Leonardo's constructions there in the Museo Nazionale della scienza e tecnologia. If Whistler's father had painted Whistler's Mother, eccociqua: Analogous.
Leonardo foresaw the US budgets of the 21st century, where the Department of War (nobody should believe the euphemism, "Defense") swallows whole the Arts. Solution: Be a Whistler...or a Leonardo. Simple.
Leonardo worked as a military engineer for the Sforza, as James McNeil Whistler's father worked for the Czar building a railway. Since my daughter has lived in Milano a quarter century, I have also seen many of Leonardo's constructions there in the Museo Nazionale della scienza e tecnologia. If Whistler's father had painted Whistler's Mother, eccociqua: Analogous.
Leonardo foresaw the US budgets of the 21st century, where the Department of War (nobody should believe the euphemism, "Defense") swallows whole the Arts. Solution: Be a Whistler...or a Leonardo. Simple.
March 9, 2017
Görsel zenginliği çok derin olan keyifli bir kitap. Leonardo Da Vinci'nin el yazısına bakabilmek beni her zaman mutlu etmiştir. Çizimle, resimle ilgileniyorsanız çok eğitici bilgiler bulabilirsiniz. Özellikle son kısımdaki aforizmaları okurken çok eğlendim.
Tavsiye ederim!
Tavsiye ederim!
July 14, 2010
Whenever I see the grammar police rear their ugly head, I'll remember LDV wrote backwards in an indecipherable scrawl and with an akward form of shorthand.
September 15, 2021
Leonardo’s Notebooks
Edited by H. Anna Suh (2013)
Mona Lisa and a dozen incomparably, unique beautiful paintings are the heritage our civilization has received from the greatest of all Renaissance artists.
Plus, about four thousand notes.
This book of notes is the perfect complement to Leonardo’s biography.
The editor aimed to present Leonardo’s writings to lay readers in a way he could enjoy the work, overcoming the language barrier, the left-handed mirror writing style, the wide range of subjects treated on many single pages.
The contents are classified into major groups, Beauty, Reason and Art; Observation and Order; and Practical Matters.
For readers of Leonardo’s biography, many of the drawings and parts of the notes are familiar. It helps to find them in order of interest. Needless to read everything from cover to cover, it becomes pleasant to read by just following the favourite areas of personal preference.
Young modern artists can hardly find any better source for learning to draw and to paint of higher authority and greater beauty.
Edited by H. Anna Suh (2013)
Mona Lisa and a dozen incomparably, unique beautiful paintings are the heritage our civilization has received from the greatest of all Renaissance artists.
Plus, about four thousand notes.
This book of notes is the perfect complement to Leonardo’s biography.
The editor aimed to present Leonardo’s writings to lay readers in a way he could enjoy the work, overcoming the language barrier, the left-handed mirror writing style, the wide range of subjects treated on many single pages.
The contents are classified into major groups, Beauty, Reason and Art; Observation and Order; and Practical Matters.
For readers of Leonardo’s biography, many of the drawings and parts of the notes are familiar. It helps to find them in order of interest. Needless to read everything from cover to cover, it becomes pleasant to read by just following the favourite areas of personal preference.
Young modern artists can hardly find any better source for learning to draw and to paint of higher authority and greater beauty.
October 6, 2024
We are two brothers, each of us has a brother. How many sons in all?
Leonardo was a man of many talents, as is well known. His notebooks were originally published piecemeal, divided up by topic. This set I have appears to be the whole conclusive sets, all combined. But, since it is Kindle, the pictures were not included. So there, I made the wrong selection again. I put this up front, because it is important in deciding which you may want to read. But, on to the book itself… without the pictures.
The notes reveal the pattern of the formulation of his ideas over time, as well as many sound principles. Some of those ideas reveal the current state of knowledge in his time; like that some people thought that the oceans were higher than the dry land. The notebooks are filled with many different topics; from the effects of perspective, light, and true color, to architecture, to human anatomy, to animal behavior, to oceanography and survival at sea. Leonardo wrote about questions about whether the spirit could speak or not. Literally.
Leonardo reasoned on the currents of the seas. He spoke of various specific places, so the work reveals that he probably traveled over various geographies. But, the topics are not all dry Science. Much of the Science is quite humorous and down to Earth. There are large sections on fables and jokes, as well. One funny question he pondered is why dogs like to smell each other? He reasoned that it is by means of this smell they know that dog to be well fed, wherefore they respect him, because they judge that he has a powerful and rich master. That makes good sense, because I’ve known rich men who fed their dogs well enough to kill them from the fat meat.
His notebooks are written like a writer’s notebook, as well as like a Scientist’s Notebook. He included his plans for various books he intended to write. If you have the pictures to go along with the text, you can see how the text relates to the pictures he painted. Being a potpourri of his clear mind, you get much from reading this great classic work, even if like me it is the first you have read on Leonardo. Though it is not a book everyone would enjoy reading, it could be very instructive especially to would-be writers, poets, artists, inventers, and engineers, as well as home-schools. There is much to learn from the masters. A few quotes I enjoyed follow:
Leonardo was a man of many talents, as is well known. His notebooks were originally published piecemeal, divided up by topic. This set I have appears to be the whole conclusive sets, all combined. But, since it is Kindle, the pictures were not included. So there, I made the wrong selection again. I put this up front, because it is important in deciding which you may want to read. But, on to the book itself… without the pictures.
The notes reveal the pattern of the formulation of his ideas over time, as well as many sound principles. Some of those ideas reveal the current state of knowledge in his time; like that some people thought that the oceans were higher than the dry land. The notebooks are filled with many different topics; from the effects of perspective, light, and true color, to architecture, to human anatomy, to animal behavior, to oceanography and survival at sea. Leonardo wrote about questions about whether the spirit could speak or not. Literally.
Leonardo reasoned on the currents of the seas. He spoke of various specific places, so the work reveals that he probably traveled over various geographies. But, the topics are not all dry Science. Much of the Science is quite humorous and down to Earth. There are large sections on fables and jokes, as well. One funny question he pondered is why dogs like to smell each other? He reasoned that it is by means of this smell they know that dog to be well fed, wherefore they respect him, because they judge that he has a powerful and rich master. That makes good sense, because I’ve known rich men who fed their dogs well enough to kill them from the fat meat.
His notebooks are written like a writer’s notebook, as well as like a Scientist’s Notebook. He included his plans for various books he intended to write. If you have the pictures to go along with the text, you can see how the text relates to the pictures he painted. Being a potpourri of his clear mind, you get much from reading this great classic work, even if like me it is the first you have read on Leonardo. Though it is not a book everyone would enjoy reading, it could be very instructive especially to would-be writers, poets, artists, inventers, and engineers, as well as home-schools. There is much to learn from the masters. A few quotes I enjoyed follow:
"We are two brothers, each of us has a brother. Here the way of saying it makes it appear that the two brothers have become four."
"The painter who draws merely by practice and by eye, without any reason, is like a mirror which copies every thing placed in front of it without being conscious of their existence."
”I wish to work miracles;—it may be that I shall possess less than other men of more peaceful lives, or than those who want to grow rich in a day.”
”Although partridges steal each other's eggs, nevertheless the young born of these eggs always return to their true mother.”
"...the greater the darkness into which the pupil goes the more its size increases, and this increase makes the darkness seem less."
"The eye will hold and retain in itself the image of a luminous body better than that of a shaded object. The reason is that the eye is in itself perfectly dark and since two things that are alike cannot be distinguished, therefore the night, and other dark objects cannot be seen or recognised by the eye. Light is totally contrary and gives more distinctness, and counteracts and differs from the usual darkness of the eye, hence it leaves the impression of its image."
”The vine that has grown old on an old tree falls with the ruin of that tree, and through that bad companionship must perish with it.”
"Those who are in love with practice without knowledge are like the sailor who gets into a ship without rudder or compass and who never can be certain whether he is going. Practice must always be founded on sound theory, and to this Perspective is the guide and the gateway;"
April 29, 2009
One of the defining periods of my life was when I read Leonardo's notebooks. His awareness, curiosity, and maddening drive towards perfection of his understanding of reality is beautiful.
You really get a grasp of his personality from the notebooks. He suffered greatly from the thought that he'd die before I got it all figured out.
You really get a grasp of his personality from the notebooks. He suffered greatly from the thought that he'd die before I got it all figured out.
January 7, 2013
Leonardo's work is outstanding, this book is good, but the presentation could have been a bit more powerful
May 5, 2019
I approached this book with great awe stricken respect and it took me a long time, years actually, to feel ready and worthy to read it. I love the Renaissance, the art and the history and of course, the main characters and artists that made that era so interesting.
I must honestly say that I was a bit disappointed. I'm not sure most of the parts of this book were meant to a reader other than da Vinci himself (though some definitely did). I've found some parts quite boring, detailing painting materials, bills of scudi and florins, and scraps which weren't clear.
But of course, it's also a glimpse to one of the great minds of human history. While some of his notes look like things that a man writes to himself without the need to explain anything, without the context and the stream of thoughts, a lot of them nevertheless actually are in context and detail in dates and the natural order of making a claim. The first part of the book is especially coherent, with its scientific debates.
I also enjoyed his notes on art, his tips to a painter, and his touching essay about elephants.
being THE renaissance man, this book gives you an idea on why Leonardo da Vinci didn't paint as many paintings as we wish he had because he was so busy being fascinated with almost everything that caught his attention. Nature, physics, optics, geology, the study of water and astronomy… as Andrew Graham Dixon said, da Vinci is somewhat the first example of a conceptual artist, study first and taking days before approaching his painting, giving few brushstrokes and then stop to think again for a couple of days.
The fact he didn't finish so many projects strengthen this idea, that he liked studying better, and was always distracted by a new field of study.
This book is somewhat weird because I'm sure that academic scholars study the actual codex, this edited book is trying to put an order in things for the common reader but that common reader has to be very very interested in da Vinci, and might benefit more reading his biographies. You can't perfectly edit a book like this. A personal journal can't be all clear to any reader.
But after all that, it's still an important text, with priceless historical significance.
I must honestly say that I was a bit disappointed. I'm not sure most of the parts of this book were meant to a reader other than da Vinci himself (though some definitely did). I've found some parts quite boring, detailing painting materials, bills of scudi and florins, and scraps which weren't clear.
But of course, it's also a glimpse to one of the great minds of human history. While some of his notes look like things that a man writes to himself without the need to explain anything, without the context and the stream of thoughts, a lot of them nevertheless actually are in context and detail in dates and the natural order of making a claim. The first part of the book is especially coherent, with its scientific debates.
I also enjoyed his notes on art, his tips to a painter, and his touching essay about elephants.
being THE renaissance man, this book gives you an idea on why Leonardo da Vinci didn't paint as many paintings as we wish he had because he was so busy being fascinated with almost everything that caught his attention. Nature, physics, optics, geology, the study of water and astronomy… as Andrew Graham Dixon said, da Vinci is somewhat the first example of a conceptual artist, study first and taking days before approaching his painting, giving few brushstrokes and then stop to think again for a couple of days.
The fact he didn't finish so many projects strengthen this idea, that he liked studying better, and was always distracted by a new field of study.
This book is somewhat weird because I'm sure that academic scholars study the actual codex, this edited book is trying to put an order in things for the common reader but that common reader has to be very very interested in da Vinci, and might benefit more reading his biographies. You can't perfectly edit a book like this. A personal journal can't be all clear to any reader.
But after all that, it's still an important text, with priceless historical significance.
September 17, 2009
"Force arises from dearth or abundance; it is the child of physical motion, and the grandchild of spiritual motion, and the mother and origin of gravity." 186
"Science is the observation of things possible, whether present or past. Prescience is the knowledge of things which may come to pass, though but slowly." 252
"Wisdom is the daughter of experience." 288
"Just as eating contrary to the inclination is injurious to the health, so study without desire spoils the memory, and it retains nothing that it takes in." 302
"No counsel is more trustworthy than that which is given upon ships that are in peril." 302
"Science is the observation of things possible, whether present or past. Prescience is the knowledge of things which may come to pass, though but slowly." 252
"Wisdom is the daughter of experience." 288
"Just as eating contrary to the inclination is injurious to the health, so study without desire spoils the memory, and it retains nothing that it takes in." 302
"No counsel is more trustworthy than that which is given upon ships that are in peril." 302
March 6, 2009
Such a look at the way da Vinci thought. Usually, we see his visual works. This book translates and organizes his written journals to provide us a look at his thoughts on art and the world around him. Very enjoyable to browse, though not necessarily a work to be read straight through.
August 27, 2016
touching the big papers is really exciting. He has a big brain so he has lots o thing about everything . amazing.
February 14, 2024
Okay, this was not what I was expecting at all. I thought this would read more like a personal diary. That expectation made this one of the most anticipated books in my home library. Yeah, it wasn't that at all. He just gives painting tips. I'm very sad.
But since Leo is a gay icon he gets five stars by default. I don't make the rules.
But since Leo is a gay icon he gets five stars by default. I don't make the rules.
May 26, 2013
Review:
I never knew who da Vinci was. It was only after watching the movie, The Da Vinci Code, I came to understand that Leonardo da Vinci was a person who creates puzzles for his time pass. He also drew few paintings like Mona Lisa and The Last Supper (during that time, I didn't even know what was the significance of the painting).
Slowly, there after I came to learn Leonardo was no puzzler (person who creates puzzles), but an artist. It is only after I read this book, I came to understand the reason behind his fame. The text in this book has literally swept me off my feet. Though the methods he exercised were bizarre and awkward to understate. (He got the general of the army to strip all this clothes and made him lie stark naked to draw some painting!!)
Description (From the jacket - hand typed):
For everyone who has read and enjoyed Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code, here is an exceptional insight into da Vinci's inner world, in his own words and images.
The notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci - a treasure house of unparalleled ingenuity, curiosity and creative energy - have inspired their readers for centuries. Fascinating and tantalizing their readers for centuries. Fascinating and tantalizing by turns, the individual pages of the notebooks, densely covered with da Vinci's sketches, jottings, calculations and detailed diagrams, are among the most prized possessions of the world's great art collectors.
Painters, sculptors, engineer; mathematician, philosopher, inventor; architect, anatomist and naturalist - da Vinci's talents are seemingly endless. This is new selection from the notebooks, bursting with imagination and quirkiness, sometimes cryptic or even incomprehensible, is the perfect introduction to the mysteries of Leonardo da Vinci. Those who know him as the celebrated painter of The Last Supper and the Mona Lisa will be astonished and intrigues by this sparkling testament to one of greatest minds of Western Civilization.
My take on the book:
I rated this book four. And I rate da Vinci the whole five!!
For me, before I read this book, painting was something way over my head. There are some painting I came across which are like a baby's puke of different colours on a canvas and that would price over a million rupees! Anyone can mix some colours and throw them on a canvas and call it a painting.
After reading this book, there are two................
To read the whole review, click here...
I never knew who da Vinci was. It was only after watching the movie, The Da Vinci Code, I came to understand that Leonardo da Vinci was a person who creates puzzles for his time pass. He also drew few paintings like Mona Lisa and The Last Supper (during that time, I didn't even know what was the significance of the painting).
Slowly, there after I came to learn Leonardo was no puzzler (person who creates puzzles), but an artist. It is only after I read this book, I came to understand the reason behind his fame. The text in this book has literally swept me off my feet. Though the methods he exercised were bizarre and awkward to understate. (He got the general of the army to strip all this clothes and made him lie stark naked to draw some painting!!)
Description (From the jacket - hand typed):
For everyone who has read and enjoyed Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code, here is an exceptional insight into da Vinci's inner world, in his own words and images.
The notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci - a treasure house of unparalleled ingenuity, curiosity and creative energy - have inspired their readers for centuries. Fascinating and tantalizing their readers for centuries. Fascinating and tantalizing by turns, the individual pages of the notebooks, densely covered with da Vinci's sketches, jottings, calculations and detailed diagrams, are among the most prized possessions of the world's great art collectors.
Painters, sculptors, engineer; mathematician, philosopher, inventor; architect, anatomist and naturalist - da Vinci's talents are seemingly endless. This is new selection from the notebooks, bursting with imagination and quirkiness, sometimes cryptic or even incomprehensible, is the perfect introduction to the mysteries of Leonardo da Vinci. Those who know him as the celebrated painter of The Last Supper and the Mona Lisa will be astonished and intrigues by this sparkling testament to one of greatest minds of Western Civilization.
My take on the book:
I rated this book four. And I rate da Vinci the whole five!!
For me, before I read this book, painting was something way over my head. There are some painting I came across which are like a baby's puke of different colours on a canvas and that would price over a million rupees! Anyone can mix some colours and throw them on a canvas and call it a painting.
After reading this book, there are two................
To read the whole review, click here...
January 30, 2012
Most of the original text and sketches have of course been lost either by time or by Leonardo's own design (he deliberately corrupted his own texts to keep his competitors from stealing his works). It is a true shame that this knowledge is lost.
Any free kindle edition is easily worth 4 stars. It is a rare treat to see Leonardo's mind at work. He was one of the most gifted intellects ever created and just watching how he 'pieced' the workings of life and the known universe together is worth the time and study.
Devlin
Any free kindle edition is easily worth 4 stars. It is a rare treat to see Leonardo's mind at work. He was one of the most gifted intellects ever created and just watching how he 'pieced' the workings of life and the known universe together is worth the time and study.
Devlin
July 30, 2022
1. Why read this?
a. A Masterpiece to understand, Renaissance Man
b. A Masterpiece to glimpse, Renaissance Era
Get a glimpse of Leonardo's life through his journal entries.
Great Quote:
"A Painter is not admirable if he is not universal."
2. What else?
Strikes chords with writers from School of Salamanca.
They viewed knowledge holistically.
--Deus Vult
Gottfried
a. A Masterpiece to understand, Renaissance Man
b. A Masterpiece to glimpse, Renaissance Era
Get a glimpse of Leonardo's life through his journal entries.
Great Quote:
"A Painter is not admirable if he is not universal."
2. What else?
Strikes chords with writers from School of Salamanca.
They viewed knowledge holistically.
--Deus Vult
Gottfried
February 16, 2016
Five stars for the illustrations and the genius of the author. I didn't understand all of the text -- a lot of it is technical instructions for painting, sculpture, and various inventions, but I understood enough to appreciate the the mind of Leonardo da Vinci was extraordinary.
August 11, 2011
Short punchy excerpts that provide insight into a genius making his way in the world over 500 years ago.
April 11, 2014
it is a really good book i like it
July 13, 2014
It is truly fascinating to get an insight into da Vinci's mind. He combined art, science, mathematics, and philosophy together beautifully.
May 21, 2022
i love this book
November 26, 2024
I’m in awe of the way Renaissance artists used observation, calculation, and thought to forge new ways of representing, analyzing, and manipulating the world.
Read
January 25, 2025Stary, co ty gadasz wgl
June 23, 2018
A complete human. One of the most illustrated man that has ever existed. A compilation of the greatest human that has ever existed.
March 30, 2013
On occasion I do as I am doing now which was choosing a book or a source close to the one I have read. So that I might have some reference to the work that has interested me. I read this work in two forms a little red book at my community college the other being on the project gutenberg website. I think it's one of the best website ever created it serves the commons and I hope the commons serves it. Right now their is a war over the domain of information and this is a concern, because their are so many things that we should not claim ownership or domain over, yet we do and often times we pay for these things in ways that we cannot see at the time. The unknown unknown always constantly chomping at us from above or below.
This book in any of it's forms is interesting though because the individual is interesting, though one might not be able to see the fellow as universally likable. Who is?
The things that constructed his life and his positions, where the whirlpools and the vortices that he would describe. Its not easy being a bastard at the time of his birth, or even now. Not having one or many parents can cause allot of problems in a persons life for a variety of reasons.
Having your father see that you have great talent though and then invest in you to get you training and help that you otherwise would not get is quite wonderful. That and his big break with the kings and the merchants was to all of our benefits unfortunately it was siege technology that had them interested not in his other skills.
I think to some degree he played the courts though by pushing out some things and not really bringing them into fruition, while otherwise entertaining the courts so that their could be much gaiety and joy.
He is interesting to me because he is interested in so many things curious completely and looking towards nature to answer his questions not people or authorities. Who needs a greater authority that which houses us all and we live within.
So if you are curious and you want to know about a mind and it's flights and fantasies this work is perfect. Though so many things that were personal were not shared. Only things about observations and discoveries.
Except for what I think the most tragic thing that I saw in his work when he was dying and he questioned the value of his life. Saying that it was worth nothing.
I say my dear friend from ages before, that your life was worth something it has helped so many of us who are curious or struggling thank you for your life.
This book in any of it's forms is interesting though because the individual is interesting, though one might not be able to see the fellow as universally likable. Who is?
The things that constructed his life and his positions, where the whirlpools and the vortices that he would describe. Its not easy being a bastard at the time of his birth, or even now. Not having one or many parents can cause allot of problems in a persons life for a variety of reasons.
Having your father see that you have great talent though and then invest in you to get you training and help that you otherwise would not get is quite wonderful. That and his big break with the kings and the merchants was to all of our benefits unfortunately it was siege technology that had them interested not in his other skills.
I think to some degree he played the courts though by pushing out some things and not really bringing them into fruition, while otherwise entertaining the courts so that their could be much gaiety and joy.
He is interesting to me because he is interested in so many things curious completely and looking towards nature to answer his questions not people or authorities. Who needs a greater authority that which houses us all and we live within.
So if you are curious and you want to know about a mind and it's flights and fantasies this work is perfect. Though so many things that were personal were not shared. Only things about observations and discoveries.
Except for what I think the most tragic thing that I saw in his work when he was dying and he questioned the value of his life. Saying that it was worth nothing.
I say my dear friend from ages before, that your life was worth something it has helped so many of us who are curious or struggling thank you for your life.
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