The notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci - Vol. 1

Jean Paul Richter

Dover Publications

1970

367 páginas

12h 14m

ISBN-1: 0

Scientist, painter, mechanical engineer, sculptor, thinker, city planner, storyteller, musician, architect - Leonardo da Vinci, builder of the first flying machine, was one of the great universal geniuses of Western civilization. His voluminous notebooks, the great storehouse of his theories and discoveries, are presented here in 1566 extracts that reveal the full range of Leonardo's versatile interests: all the important writings on paintings, sculpture, architecture, anatomy, astronomy, geography, topography, and other fields are included, in both Italian and English, with 186 plates of manuscript pages and many other drawings reproduced in facsimile size.

The first volume, which contains all of Leonardo's writings on aspects of painting, includes discussions of such basic scientific areas as the structure of the eye and vision, perspective, the science of light and shade, the perspective of disappearance, theory of color, perspective of color, proportions and movements of the human figure, botany for painters and the elements of landscape painting. A section on the practice of painting includes moral percepts for painters and writings on composition, materials and the philosophy of art. The second volume contains writings on sculpture, architecture (plans for towns, streets and canals, churches, palaces, castles and villas, theoretical writings on arches, domes, fissures, etc.), zoology, physiology (including his amazingly accurate theories of blood circulation), medicine, astronomy, geography (including his famous writings and drawings on the movement of water), topography (observations n Italy, France, and other areas), naval warfare, swimming, theory of flying machines, mining, music, and other topics.

A selection of philosophical maxims, morals, polemics, fables, jests, studies in the lives and habits of animals, tales and prophecies display Leonardo's abilities as a writer and thinker. The second volume also contains some letters, personal records, inventories and accounts, and concludes with Leonardo's will. The drawings include sketches and studies for some of Leonardo's greatest works of art - The Last Supper, the lost Battle of Anghiari, The Virgin of the Rocks, and the destroyed Sforza monument.

Unabridged republication of The Literary Works of Leonardo da Vinci (1883). Over 700 illustrations. Reference tables to the numerical order of the chapters. Appendices: History of the manuscripts, bibliography of the manuscripts.