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 standard: 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.