off and corrected, it too certainly relative to the purchase of the Codex, to read “by the great power of Gold ” (hereinafter preceded by “Purchased”), without other purpose, it would appear, than to make a greater profit from the long sought-after sale. Guglielmo Della Porta, the sculptor of the sepulchre of Paul III, had been to Rome, if the date given by Vasari Op. cit., vol. cit., pg. 545. is right, in 1537, and died there, according to Bertolotti, Artisti lombardi a Roma ne’ secoli XV, XVI e XVII. Milan, Hoepli, 1881, II, pg. 127. in 1577. If the story told in the document cited is true (which would still require an explanation of what happened to the inheritance of “manuscripts and drawings” of Guglielmo Della Porta from 1577 to 1690), the failure to mention this Codex in the memoirs, It is interesting however to note the unusual insistence with which, mistakenly too, as in the case of this manuscript, it was usual during the XVII and XVIII centuries to date the compilation of Leonardo’s manuscripts to the period and occasion of his work on the Martesana canal. Cf., as well as Mazzenta’s report (Uzielli, Ricerche, etc., cit., second series, Rome, Salviucci, 1884, pg. 226-227) and the reference of Du Fresne, shown (see throughout) on the verso of one of the cover sheets of the Leicester manuscript (the one with the frontispiece dating to Ghezzi’s time on the recto), the document published by Motta, in folder V (pg. 104-105) of the Raccolta Vinciana (1908-1909), where (pg. 106) a piece of information given by me verbally on the content of the manuscript was understood in a more absolute manner than I had given it: which does not however alter in any way the essence of Motta’s conclusions. regarding the fate of the Leonardo relics belonging to Melzi, would concur in leading us to believe that the Leicester Codex must be placed in that category of manuscripts which according to the classification of Uzielli Ricerche, etc., second series, cit., pg. 221 and 223 were not left in Leonardo’s will to Francesco Melzi, both because Leonardo had lent some of them to other people while he was alive, A note of Leonardo’s (W. A. IV, sheet 153 r., in Richter, op. cit.; II, § 1433, pg. 431): “Libro dell’acque a messer Marco Antonio” [Book on water to Messer Marco Antonio] may raise the suspicion that this manuscript or another similar had been lent to Marco Antonio Della Torre, with whom Leonardo must have found himself in frequent contact on account of the anatomical studies, around 1510. Cf., for a further mention of the texts written by Leonardo on water, the words of De Beatis, already given in note 1 on page 12. and for other causes; Cf. also Vasari, The Lives, ed.. cit., vol. IV, cit., pg. 36-37; and Uzielli, op. cit, second series cit., pg. 351-352 and 368. or of those which, by chance were separated at an early stage from the original group belonging to Francesco Melzi. Having said what we know about the history of the Codex, I shall now give a description, copying here in brief the notes found upon examining the Codex. The volume (enclosed in a leather box) is bound in red leather. External measurements of the binding, 240 x 310 mm. measurements of the sheets composing the Codex, 218 x 295 mm.
[Ist cover sheet, recto:]
[In pencil:] 696 [earlier marking in the Library of Lord Leicester].
[In pen:] Tho.s Will.m Coke.
[In pen:] This Treatise on the nature weight and/motion of water, written by Lionardo/da Vinci alla mancina, or from right to/left, has never been printed.
On the reverse of the modern Title/may be found an extract from the Life/of Lion. da Vinci, by du Fresne, in/which this volume is particularly/mentioned.
It appears from the Title page (altho ’the name of the possessor has been obliterated) that/it has belonged to Giuseppe Ghezzi, an eminent/painter at Rome; who, according to the inscripn/“had obtained it, by a vast sum of money, to/(perfect), compleat the laborious collection of his library”. A very legible transcript of this original/MS. is in the Collection at Holkham Jordan (Das Malerbuch des Lionardo da Vinci, Leipzig, Seemann, 1873, pg. 104) and Uzielli in the second series of his Ricerche (Rome, Salviucci, 1884, pg. 324-325, 344-345 and 366) have already mentioned two copies of the Leicester manuscript, one kept with the original in the Library of Holkham Hall (ms. 700), and the other existing in the Grand-duke of Weimar’s Library. The first, of 170 sheets (235 x 330 mm, leather binding) numbered on the recto contains the transcription of the original manuscript (performed with rare understanding of the text, despite there being some oversights and errors), has no date or indication of the transcriber, who proves to be Francesco Ducci, the Laurentian librarian (of which he was cataloguing the codices around the end of the XVII century) from the following note on the other copy in Weimar, derived from it, (of 318 pages, in small sheets, parchment binding): [Of this book the original and a copy went to London and Mr Ciurini the Master of Geometry in the Accademia dei Nobili in Florence has a copy, and this present copy together with the other was made at the same time that the Ducci Prete of S. Lorenzo copied it for London]. On the second sheet of the Weimar copy a tercet by the painter and poet Agnolo Bronzino may be read (1502-1572) chap.° II Delle scuse):

Già fu il profondo del mare in su’ poggi
E se ne vede il segno; e torneravvi
Se prima il fuoco non fa ch’ei diloggi.
[the sea that once reached the hilltops
has left its mark; here it will return
unless it is first consumed by flames]

evidently placed there as an epigraph of the geological theories contained in the Leicester manuscript. On the third sheet is the following note by Bossi, who owned the manuscript now in Weimar: Napoli, 6 Luglio 1810. Donatomi cortesemente dal Duca di Cassano gran cacciatore di S. M. I. G. Bossi, pittore. [Naples, 6 July 1810. Kindly given to me by the Duke of Cassano great hunter of HM G. Bossi, painter.] I owe the above information (in part already given by Jordan and by Uzielli (in the places mentioned), to the courtesy of the Chief Librarian of the Grand-duke of Weimar’s library, Geh. Hofrat Paul see Bojanowski. A third copy of the Leicester manuscript is in the Biblioteca Boncompagni in Rome; which I was kindly permitted to consult at my leisure, thanks to the great courtesy of the Honourable Prof. Mario Cermenati, who is its current owner. It is a volume of small sheets (partially bound in leather), containing two transcriptions in succession, the first of 140 sheets, numbered on the recto, the second of 82 sheets, also numbered on the recto (without frontispiece and cover sheets). The second cover sheet bears the following text (already shown by Baratta, Leonardo da Vinci e i problemi della terra, cit., pg. 313): Adi 4 - Maggio 1767. Attesto io infratto Bibliotecario degl’Ill.mi Sig.ri Marchesi Niccolini di aver fedelmente copiato nel sud.° anno il presente Cod. Cart. Mss. intitolato - Della Natura, Moto, e Peso dell’Acque di Lionardo da Vinci - da altra Copia simile, e di averlo quindi diligentem.e collazionato colla stessa Copia, talmente che in tutto esso, e in ciascuna sua parte è conservata la stessa identità, ed in fede Io P. Giuseppe Bacherini M.° p.a [This day- 4 May 1767. I the undersigned Librarian of the most honourable Marquis Niccolini certify that I have faithfully copied in the year above, this Codex manuscript entitled – On the Nature, Motion and Weight of Water by Leonardo da Vinci- from another similar copy and that I have diligently collated it with the said copy so that throughout it and in each of its parts its identity has been preserved, in trust I, P. Guiseppe Bacherini M.° p.a.] Questa copia a penna ha servito allo spoglio allegato nella Quinta Impressione del Vocabolario = Dot. Francesco Tassi Accad.° della Crusca. [This copy in pen was used for the attached perusal in the Fifth Impression of the Vocabulary= Dr. Francesco Tassi member of Accademia della Crusca] The indications below (the same as preface the original, though without the name of Ghezzi) and the entire first part of the manuscript owned by the Honourable Cermenati, clearly derive, although indirectly, from the copy existing in Holkham, and therefore constitute (except for some very tiny lacunae, which I believe are entirely or mostly present in the Holkham copy) a further integral copy of the Leicester manuscript. The second part, written by another hand and preceded by a new declaration (below the date of 20 May 1767) of the Bibliotecario Bacherini, stating that it has been collated, is a second fragmentary transcription (much less clear and less accurate) of the material contained in sheets 2 r.-36 v. of the Leicester manuscript, with abundant cuts on most pages, especially where the subject is not strictly speaking hydraulics; some pages have been entirely suppressed while others have been copied in full. Towards the end, the discussion of the origin of fossils has been copied (sheets 8 v.-10 v., preceded by the last fragment of sheet 36 r., and omitting the contents of sheet 10 r.), and lastly there are a few notes taken from a treatise on water by another author and copied here perhaps to offer a comparison with Leonardo’s ideas. As regards the Treatise on the motion and measurement of water, published by Cardinali, it derives, as we know, from the Barberiniano XLVIII. 100, Codex which recently passed to the Vatican (Barb. lat. 4332); and it does not seem proba ble that in compiling this (in the year of 1643), the Dominican Luigi Maria Arconati used the Leicester manuscript.

W. Roscoe