Codex Leicester

Leonardo da Vinci's Codex Leicester (now owned by Bill Gates) is on exhibition in the Chester Beatty Library.

The manuscript consists of 18 sheets, folded and slotted into each other to form a book but it has been taken apart for exhibition purposes. There were two rows of glass panes in the room to display the manuscript and it was possible to walk down both sides of the row to view both sides of the sheet of paper. I assume the two rows were necessary because of the room dimensions but I thought it was a pity that all the sheets weren't displayed in one continuous row, maybe even with breaks between each sheet/pane of glass to enable the viewer to swiftly see both sides of the paper. (I need a sketch to explain the existing layout and my suggestion!!!) I didn't get a proper understanding of whether da Vinci wrote the treatise in booklet form or on sheets back and front, then lobbed them together. Does each page stand alone or is there continuation of idea from page to page / sheet to sheet? Maybe I needed to spend more time on the computer to figure this kind of thing out, but I didn't have the interest and it would require studiousness.

The computer was useful in that it had a facility for looking at each sheet, zooming in, reversing the writing, and some even had a translation of the text.

The text that I read spoke of water on the moon and why this had to be the case. It was reasonably convincing! Though not particularly well-written in terms of language or structure of argument.

I was expecting to come away feeling in awe of Leonardo da Vinci and his ability to scrutinise and draw conclusions from personal investigation, and maybe also to be amazed by his sketches. I didn't come away with this feeling at all.