The book begins with Prophecies, followed by the Fables on animals, on lifeless objects, on plants, and the Studies on the Life and Habits of Animals, in which Leonardo presents a curious sequence of animals and their description. It ends with the Jests and Tales and the Final Prophecies. Among these delightful and amusing writings, we find satires, fables, aphorisms, anecdotes, prophetic sayings, and enigmatic statements, ingeniously created or reproduced by the unique mind of Leonardo da Vinci.

Found in the Codex Atlanticus of Leonardo da Vinci's writings and drawings, 'The Prophecies' are a collection of enigmatic divinatory pronouncements, some punning and playful, others dire and ominous. While the author's intentions behind these utterances are unclear, they clearly attest to the artist's fevered and troubled imagination and offer a glimpse into a world very similar to that depicted in his lost painting The Battle of Anghiari.This volume also contains a further selection of Leonardo da Vinci's fragmentary writings, in the form of fables and aphorisms. Taken together, these pieces provide an invaluable insight into the thought processes of one of the Renaissance's most productive minds.

"Collection of ... [da Vinci's] stories, riddles, jests, and puzzles illustrated with his own drawings"--Dustjacket.

This study is the first to consider the whole body of Leonardo's works with an eye to a comprehensive interpretation that combines both cultural history and the history of ideas. According to Maiorino, Leonardo's was a mythmaking mode of activity that had a Daedalian range and affected art and technology alike. As both artist and inventor, Leonardo did not separate reason from experience, empiricism from abstraction, an attitude Maiorino characterizes as "Anti-Humanism". Rather than accepting the earlier view that the culture of the Renaissance was divided against itself or that it came to be divided, he argues that anti-Humanism was present from the start in such founders as Petrarch and Alberti and continued to be a current in later authors and artists; hence the significance of Leonardo to Humanism and to Baroque and Renaissance culture at large.

The Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci Vol-2' is an enlightening collection of writings by the renowned polymath Leonardo da Vinci. The second volume of Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks contains a wide range of writings on a variety of topics, including sculpture, architecture, zoology, physiology, medicine, astronomy, geography, naval warfare, swimming, flying machines, mining, music, and more. Leonardo's writings are often accompanied by detailed drawings and diagrams, which provide a fascinating glimpse into his mind and his work. The volume begins with a section on sculpture, in which Leonardo discusses the principles of design and proportion. He also provides detailed instructions on how to create sculptures, including how to model clay, cast bronze, and carve marble. The next section of the volume is devoted to architecture. Leonardo discusses the design of buildings, including churches, palaces, and fortifications. He also provides insights into the principles of engineering and construction.