Leonardo da Vinci: the Manuscripts
Fortunately, over five thousand pages of notes of all Leonardo's production still remain, drawn up with his unmistakable mirror writing, oriented from right to left. This enormous mass of writings, certainly the most consistent of the Renaissance period, underwent many vicissitudes after Leonardo's death.
In fact, the current appearance and subdivision of the manuscripts are certainly not the original ones, when the master was alive or when they passed to his faithful disciple Francesco Melzi.
It was the heirs of Melzi, after his death in 1570, who initiated the dispersion of that immense material; even, not having understood its importance, they initially left the writings in an attic to then give them away or sell them cheaply to friends or collectors. Great responsibility for the shuffling of the papers has the seventeenth-century sculptor Pompeo Leoni, who with the intention of separating the artistic drawings from the technological ones and to unify the scientific pages, dismember part of the original manuscripts, cutting and moving the pages so as to form two large collections : the Codex Atlanticus and the Windsor Collection, which has about six hundred drawings. Continuing with the same system, Leoni composes at least four other issues. From 1637 to 1796 part of the manuscripts are housed in the Ambrosiana Library, from which Napoleon has them stolen on his arrival in Milan.
In 1851 only a part of them returned to Milan; others remain in Paris, and still others in Spain, where some will only be found in 1966. This is the reason for the great dispersion of Leonardo's writings, now divided into ten different codices.
Codex Arundel
It is located in London at the British Museum. The Codex Arundel is a Moroccan-bound collection of 283 papers of different formats, sheets coming from dismembered manuscripts and pasted on backing sheets (28x18 cm).
Various topics appear: studies of physics and mechanics, studies of optics and
Euclidean geometry, studies of weights, studies of architecture; the latter include works for the royal residence of Francis I in Ramorantin (France).
Most of the pages can be dated between 1478 and 1518.
Codex Atlanticus
Preserved in Milan at the Ambrosiana Library, the Codex Atlanticus collects drawings, most of which can be dated between 1478 and 1518. It deals with very varied topics: studies of mathematics, geometry, astronomy, botany, zoology, military arts. Today it is rearranged into twelve volumes bound in leather, made up of 1119 support sheets, 65x44 cm format, which collect papers of different sizes.
The name Codex Atlanticus derives from the fact that originally all the maps were collected in a single large-format volume (that of the atlases).
Codex Trivulzianus
The Codex Trivulzianus is kept in the Trivulziana Library of the Sforzesco Castle in Milan and is made up of a booklet consisting of 55 cards (20.5x14 cm) compared to the original 62.
In addition to military and religious architecture studies, there are numerous pages on Leonardo's self-taught studies aimed at improving his literary training.
Most of the pages can be dated between 1487 and 1490.
Codex on the flight and birds
This codex on the fly of the birds is found at the Royal Library of Turin and consists of 17 pages (21x15 cm) compared to 18, datable to around 1505.
It mainly deals with the flight of birds that Leonardo analyzes with a rigorous mechanical approach, just as he studies the function of the wing, air resistance, winds and currents.
Codex Ashburnham
Conventionally identified with two numbers: 2037 the former code B and 2038 the former code A, are kept in Paris, at the Institute of France; these are two paper manuscripts (size 24x19 cm), bound in cardboard.
Originally they were part of manuscript A from which they were torn up in the mid-nineteenth century by Guglielmo Libri.
They mainly collect pictorial studies (Ash. 2038) and different studies (Ash. 2037), which Leonardo, in all probability, carried out between 1489 and 1492.
Codex of the Institute de France
They are kept in Paris, at the Institute of France, and consist of twelve paper manuscripts, some bound in parchment, others in leather, still others in cardboard. They have different sizes, the smallest is code M (10x7 cm), the largest is code C (31.5x22 cm). By convention they are each named with a letter of the alphabet, from A to M, for a total of 964 sheets. Various topics covered: military art, optics, geometry, bird flight, hydraulics. Most of the pages are presumably datable between 1492 and 1516.
Codex Forster
Preserved in London, at the Victoria and Albert Museum.
There are three paper manuscripts, bound in parchment, and named Forster I (14.5x10 cm), Forster II (19.5 * 7 cm), Forster III (9 * 6 cm).
They collect studies of geometry, weights and hydraulic machines elaborated by Leonardo in different periods between 1493 and 1505
Codex Leicester (formerly the Codex Hammer)
Purchased in 1994 by Bill Gates, it is a paper manuscript, bound in leather and made up of 36 sheets measuring 29x22 cm, mainly dedicated to studies of hydraulics and water motions (1504-1506).
There are also astronomy studies.
Windsor collection
They are kept at the Royal Castle of Windsor (Royal Collection) and include about 600 drawings, unbound and of different formats.
They contain studies of anatomy and geography, studies of horses, drawings, caricatures as well as a group of geographical maps.
They belong to different periods of Leonardo's life, between about 1478 and 1518.
Codex Madrid
Preserved at the National Library of Madrid, where they were only rediscovered in 1966, are two paper manuscripts bound in red Moroccan. For a quick identification they have been called "Madrid I" and "Madrid II" Most of the pages of the Madrid I Codex which includes 192 sheets (21x15 cm format) and mainly collects studies of mechanics, can be dated between 1490 and 1496, while that of Madrid II, comprising 157 sheets (21x15 cm format) are dedicated to geometric studies, and can be dated between 1503 and 1505.
