The Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci

One of the very few books where I keep wanting to read more and more and more. Its a small book, only 220 pages or so but something in it which captures my attention often. I was thrilled to get an insight into Da vinci's mind, his drawings, thoughts, his philosophies on art and most important as a human. His Moral precepts for the student of painting is so useful for art students and artists alike.

Everything is precise and yet detailed in his notes. This book is my reference guide. Oh and he comes across as an extremely witty man in his prophecies. Totally enjoyed this one.

“Interesting work bringing a glimpse of the High Renaissance period to the present. The author’s intention was “to present Leonardo as a writer, and to include in this work all passages from the note-books of philosophical, artistic, or literary interest.” Writings may be a little dry at times, and at others’ profound. There is much discussion for an artist concerning his approach to artistic shadows and light. I particularly enjoyed the tiny glimpses of his reverence to God calling Him “marvelous Necessity”, and “stupendous Necessity”. Pulling back the curtain about the humanity and inspiration of Da Vinci makes for an interesting read.”

Here you have the means to find out what a genius was thinking. Helicopters ...... perhaps. City defences. And ideas about the world he lived in. And sketches. It is impossible to summarise this book. You simply have to borrow it from the library and dip into it as the fancy takes you. Love it.

Wonderful detail from a Master; I need to find an illustrated version (if there is one) to better understand or see what he was seeing when he made his notes.

Complete English translation of da Vinci's voluminous notes, now scattered over much of Western Europe from Madrid to Rome. Unfortunately lacking the many accompanying hand sketches that he made to illustrate points in the text. But nevertheless a Herculean task of translation, well performed and published in two volumes.

This is a very impressive collection. I only wish it contained his drawings as well (very few sketches are included). Instead we see editorial notes like [Drawing here]. This would of course increase the size of this already large volume perhaps too much for it to be practical.

If this book can be said to have one fair failing, it's that there is no index! For something this diverse and meandering, an index is mandatory. This really detracts from its value is a reference work.

The Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci are a good representation of the real Da Vinci (opposed to the pseudo- image we've been given via popular culture- i.e., The Da Vinci Code). It's a little disorganized becuase Da Vinci wrote everything backwards (i.e. right to left) and because of the various translations it's undergone.