The Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci

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!

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.

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

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.

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.

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!

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.