Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks?

Question

Does anyone have any resources or information regarding Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks, specifically why he didn't publish them when he was alive?

Answer 1

I have studied Leonardo da VInci for a long time now and have been lucky enough to handle many of his original works, thus I feel as though I know the man he was.

One can NEVER say for definate that Leonardo suffered from ADHD or the like though it is pretty certain from his numerous works that survive that he had a curiosity beyond the norm. Also many figures from the Renaissance published various treatises which are not simply excerpts from an artist's notebook.

I think that rather than simply give my own opinions I will answer your question with Leonardo's own words from his various notebooks.

I think that at times the brilliant Leonardo was unsure of himself and the legacy he was to leave. 'I know that many will call this useless work', he stated. He valued experience and proof over pompous talk without substance. 'Those men who are inventors and interpreters between Nature and Man, as compared with boasters and declaimers of the works of others, must be regarded and not otherwise esteemed than as the object in front of a mirror, when compared with its image seen in the mirror. For the first is something in itself, and the other nothingness.'
(We need to be aware that this kind of evidential proof, much like the modern hypothesis and experimentation in contemporary science takes time and effort.)

Leonardo was driven by overwelming curiosity with regard to the mechanics of all that was natural and designed. He was a driven man.'Obstacles cannot crush me. Every obstacle yields to stern resolve. He who is fixed to a star does not change his mind.'

Though driven to discover the mechanics of nature Leonardo knew that time was always against him and that his lifetime would not be sufficient to quench his thirst for knowledge and discovery. 'It vexes me greatly that having to earn my living has forced me to interrupt the work and to attend to small matters'. 'Tell me if anything was ever done.' This was written in his notebooks in despair of so many projects that were never completed' 'O Time! consumer of all things; O envious age! thou dost destroy all things and devour all things with the relentless teeth of years, little by little in a slow death'.'We are deceived by promises and time disappoints us'.

Leonardo did attempt to order many of his papers and his works I believe, were meant to be seen by others. I feel that on the one hand he wished to share his knowledge as he probably thought that if he became famous for his discoveries or art then this was a great moral quality. Leonardo said, 'Fame alone raises herself to Heaven, because virtuous things are in favour with God[and] disgrace should be represented upside down, because all her deeds are contrary to God and tend to hell.' Hand in hand with this morality but strongly opposing it were Leonardo's fears that he wasn't good enough. Then there was the time issue. This incredible man simply ran out of time before he died. His monumental mind always striving to understand another concept or discover another truth about natural law which he could include within his notebooks. I doubt that a thousand lifetimes would have been time enough to quench the insatiable desire for knowledge that was his.

How could he publish with only one life in which to research?

Answer 2

Artists almost never publish their notebooks. The ones that are available were normally donated to a museum or school that organized the material and selected examples.
The purpose of artist notebooks is to capture swiftly ideas that need to be recorded on the scene or at the moment so that later the artist can expand and explore the thoughts or image. An oil painter might "sketch" in water color or stick colors as well as pencil or pen.
Leonardo was extraordinary in that he had strong engineering design impulses as well as artistic ones, but some of the things he put in his notebooks would have gotten him in painful trouble with the church, especially his anatomical studies done on cadavers, which was considered blasphemy on God's creation of the human body.

Answer 3

Leonardo DeVinci was a procrastinator and had a very hard time staying on track with anything. He often had many things going on at one time. He also bounced around a lot from one area to another doing work for various people. Although one of the GREATEST minds of all time, he was not very organized. He had ADHD tendencies which is why he thought outside the box and could never settle for the easy way to do things.

Answer 4

Hey have a look here:
http://www.vam.ac.uk/vastatic/microsites/1384_leonardo/leonardo_notebooks/

-The V&A museum in London just had an exhibition on Da Vinci's notebooks, and there's plenty of info on their website.
xx

Answer 5

Did you look for a Kindle option? I got one for free. Amazing the Zon doesn't have it.