A Treatise on Painting

that they were exactly as they appear in the present edition—besides the unquestionable authenticity of the Vatican Codex The primary source manuscript, Codex Urbinas 1270—is proven by the Pinelli Codex already mentioned, that of Stefano della Bella (whose figures were erroneously attributed to that engraver by Fontani), and another Codex preserved in this Barberini Library under No. 834, (1) all of which have figures more or less conforming to simple outlines, and not with the embellishments and extravagances with which they are seen "refurbished" in the Parisian edition. Desiring, therefore, that the quality of this text and the exact and faithful copy of the original drawings be accurately preserved even in print, I have trusted no one; rising above every inconvenience and every boredom, I have transcribed the aforementioned Codex with my own hand, compared the parts printed in various editions, and even corrected the proofs myself, and I had a companion in this final task—

...custom of our Frenchmen who often deceive themselves in this; I am indebted to you for having judged it favorably: if you regale me with your latest works, I shall hold them in the same esteem as the others I have of yours, which I hold very dear. Regarding the book by Leonardo da Vinci, it is true that I drew the human figures in the one held by the Knight Dupuis, but all the others, whether geometrical or otherwise, are by a certain Gigi Alberti, the same one who traced the plates found in the book Subterranean Rome original: "Roma Sotterranea" by Antonio Bosio, and the clumsy landscapes behind the human figures in the copy that Monsieur de Chambray had printed were added by a certain Errard, without my knowing anything about it, etc. This is a translation of a French letter from the painter Nicolas Poussin, clarifying his role in illustrating Leonardo's Treatise

(1) This Manuscript, which was copied in the 17th Century and contains only what is read in the old editions, has the merit of being the original from which the first Parisian Edition was drawn; and here is its history, as gathered from Félibien (Conversations etc. Vol. IV. Amsterdam 1706.). When Nicolas Poussin resided in Rome, he often delighted in discussing painting with the Knight Cassiano Dal Pozzo, a man greatly devoted to Letters and the arts. Knowing of such a Manuscript in the Barberini Library, he had already taken a copy of it, and in their discussions, he communicated it to Poussin, who formed the sketches and drawings of the figures based upon it. In the year 1640, this copy was given by the Knight Dal Pozzo to Monsieur Chanteloup, who took it to France and granted it to Du Fresne, who also made use of another manuscript lent to him for that purpose by Monsieur Thévenot.