The Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci brings together selections from Leonardo’s surviving manuscripts, arranged by Jean Paul Richter according to subject rather than their original manuscript order. The collection shows how closely Leonardo connected artistic practice with observation and experiment. Its extensive discussions of painting examine perspective, light and shade, colour, human proportion, landscape, composition and the practical methods of the artist.

The scope extends well beyond painting. Leonardo records ideas and investigations concerning sculpture, architecture, anatomy, mechanics, mathematics and the natural world, alongside designs, personal observations and plans for works he intended to develop further. Many entries are brief or fragmentary, reflecting notebooks used for continuing enquiry rather than a completed book prepared for publication. Richter’s edition therefore presents a structured selection from a much larger body of manuscript material, revealing the range of subjects Leonardo examined and the recurring relationship between visual study, practical experience and scientific investigation.