Glossary · Manuscripts
Codex
A bound manuscript in book form — as opposed to a scroll. Leonardo's surviving notebooks, scattered across the world's great collections, are known by their codex names: Codex Atlanticus, Codex Leicester, Codex Arundel, and many others.
Definition
A codex (Latin: codex or caudex, "block of wood" then "book") is a manuscript in bound book form, with pages rather than a continuous scroll. The codex superseded the scroll in Western Europe during late antiquity, becoming the standard form for books from the 4th century onward.
In Leonardo scholarship, "codex" typically refers to one of the named collections of his notebook pages — either a volume he compiled himself, or (more often) a collection assembled by later owners from loose sheets.
The Major Leonardo Codices
| Name | Location | Contents |
|---|---|---|
| Codex Atlanticus | Biblioteca Ambrosiana, Milan | 1,119 folios; largest collection — art, science, engineering |
| Codex Leicester | Bill Gates (private) | 72 pages; geology, water, astronomy |
| Codex Arundel | British Library, London | 283 folios; mechanics, optics, geometry |
| Paris Manuscripts A–M | Institut de France, Paris | 12 notebooks; science, painting theory |
| Windsor Collection | Royal Collection, Windsor | 600+ sheets; anatomy, drawings |
| Codex on the Flight of Birds | Biblioteca Reale, Turin | 18 folios; aerodynamics |
| Forster Codices I–III | V&A Museum, London | 3 small notebooks; mechanics, geometry |