Notebooks

by Leonardo da Vinci

Book Overview

Most of what we know about Leonardo da Vinci, we know because of his notebooks. Some 6,000 sheets of notes and drawings survive, perhaps one-fifth of what he actually produced. With an artist's eye and a scientist's curiosity, he recorded in these pages his observations on the movement of water and the formation of rocks, the nature of flight and optics, anatomy, architecture, sculpture, and painting. He jotted down fables, epigrams, and letters and...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0199299021
• ISBN13: 9780199299027
• Release Date: May 2008
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Length: 448 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 5.2" x 7.8"

Customer Reviews

Extremely disappointed

Not a true description of content . There were no drawings to go along with description. When one sees a DaVinci notebook, the drawings play such an important part. I really feel cheated! I wish I would have read the reviews before I purchased, because I am not the only customer to feel this way!

Text Only

It's great to have a translation of the notebooks, but I thought there'd be accompanying sketches and other visuals. I really needed this for a term paper I'm writing on Da Vinci and aircraft.

Don’t judge a book by its cover

Complete bs!this book was bought under the assumption one would rightly have from its description and the art on its cover that it actually contains some of da Vinci beautiful sketches in it... If that’s your assumption you are like me and will therefore be extremely dissatisfied A few Tiny chicken scratch drawings and a bunch of text whic I assume is from Leonardo but can’t tell since it’s all in English... Buyer beware

Best Version of da Vinci's Notebooks in Print

Though there are nice, complete versions of Leonardo da Vinci's Notebooks, this well designed, edited, and packaged book presents the most important and pertinent elements from his Notebooks in a single large format hardcover version that is the perfect presentation for the general audience. This version of da Vinci's Notebooks presents the contents in sections that group like illustrations and text together: "Beauty, Reason and Art" contains such content as da Vinci on painting, the human figures, and art forms; "Observations and Order" covers anatomy, geography, landscape and the sciences; and "Practical Matters" delves into da Vinci's inventions and experiments, architectural studies and metalwork, as well as sculpture. The illustrations from the original Notebooks are exceptionally well reproduced in this book and the size and presentation are generous and the main focus throughout the book. Unless you need access to the entirety of the Notebooks for research purposes, Leonardo's Notebooks as edited by H. Anna Suh, would make the perfect addition to your art or scientific library. It would look darn nice displayed on your coffee table as well. >>>>>>><<<<<<< <br /> <br />A Guide to my Book Rating System: <br /> <br />1 star = The wood pulp would have been better utilized as toilet paper. <br />2 stars = Don't bother, clean your bathroom instead. <br />3 stars = Wasn't a waste of time, but it was time wasted. <br />4 stars = Good book, but not life altering. <br />5 stars = This book changed my world in at least some small way.

Long Live Da Vinci

Reading the words that were penned by the master himself is a spine tingling experience. Even if you have trouble understanding it, or can't really learn anything, you are exposing yourself to the words and teachings of one of the greatest thinkers ever to walk the planet. That in itself is an amazing and inspirational experience. This is a greatly presented work. It contains only a small portion of all his work, (many pages of his notebooks were destroyed ages ago) but this bit here is enough for years of study and development.

Da Vinci where to begin and end

His all inspiring nature seems to outlive time. My only probably with this book is the repeated assumption that he was gay. First of all who cares, second of all no one really knows aside from his paintings of gentlemen and the such. I feel the book would be stronger without Emma Dickens assumptions of his sexuality. If you wanna give us the facts, then gives us the facts. The main problem with any book like this, when talking about one of the great masters, is that they feel the need to try and juice things up with unproven facts about them as if they were a screenplay for a movie that isn't quite exciting enough. And I definitely don't think that Da Vinci's story from his own writings scarcely needs assumptions like that to intrigue a reader. Other then that, what can one say that hasn't been said before about Da Vinci!

DA CODE TO ALL THINGS DA VINCI

The Da Vinci Code? In one word: genius. And we don't mean Dan Brown's tome. We mean the man himself, the Renaissance master who very name conjures up the definition of "brilliance." This collection --- the first to be published in more than 35 years --- is culled from Leonardo's myriad of notebooks that he filled with ruminations on painting, botany, aerodynamics, geography, physical science, anatomy and architecture. This massive collection illuminates the mind of one of history's greatest minds and talents through the most extraordinary sketches, drawings, jottings and paintings. Most fascinating: da Vinci's own handwritten notes, here carefully translated and insightfully edited by art historian H. Anna Suh. Somewhere in that Great Palette, even good ol' Miss Mona is sweetly smiling.

Leonardo's Masterworks

This 2-Volume collection published by Dover wonderfully exhibits Leonardo's works with his sketches, designs and ideas. If you ever wondered what Leonardo thought, then these are the books to get. The book is set up with the text in two columns; the left in the original Italian, and the right side in the translated English. In those words are written of Leonardo's philisophical ideas, lives of where he lived and his surroundings, his theories on color, perspective, proportion, architecture, foliage, physiology and so many other things that the Great One was curious about. Througout the book and amidst the text are Leonardos sketches, thumbnail sketches, workings of famous pieces such as the Last Supper, some anatomical drawings - and in those pages you can see Leonardo's handwriting which he tended to write backwards. The value and reference is endless, especially for the artist. This edition is reprinted from the 1833 version originally entitled "Literary Works of Leonardo Da Vinci." This is a 2-volume set, which is sold seperately, but for the price, it is so worth the money. Highly reccomended!