The Manuscripts of Leonardo da Vinci

difficulty, the same cannot be said for reading it: those who have deciphered this text—written backwards, that is to say, from right to left in the Hebrew fashion, with faded ink, cramped handwriting, and uncertain punctuation—as Mr. Ravaisson-Mollien did, have accomplished a feat of strength, even when using a mirror to set the text upright.

Must it be confessed that, like the people of the sixteenth century, the translator was drawn by the beauty of the drawings; the scientist astonished him without seducing him; that, secondly, he sought to rediscover the philosophy of Leonardo da Vinci, his metaphysical and moral doctrine; and that, finally, he believes this incomparable man wasted his time, squandering the most beautiful genius on inventing ribbon looms, rolling mills, dredgers, and cannons.

For such tasks, there are always people available in every age, whereas since May 2, 1519, no hand has drawn like the one that grew cold and still at the Château of Cloux, near Amboise Now known as Clos Lucé, the manor house where Leonardo spent his final years. Even for a genius, the day has only twenty-four hours; and the powers of application, however exalted, do not cross their limits.

The present compilation is equivalent to an original work in terms of time and the strain on the eyes and hand; and Leonardo labored as much or more to describe the sagoma original: "sagoma"; an Italian term used by Leonardo referring to a template, mold, or the profile of a molding as to draw an immortal sketch. He was therefore wrong to ask himself what movement must be given to the mobile plane to obtain an ellipse, and if the lever is double the counter-lever, and if it amounts to the same thing for the motor to have the weight in the middle of the lever as at the end of the counter-lever.