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1、NOTEBOOKSLeonardodaVinciPREFACEAsingularfatalityhasruledthedestinyofnearlyallthemostfamousofLeonardodaVinci'sworks.Twoofthethreemostimportantwerenevercompleted,obstacleshavingarisenduringhislife-time,whichobligedhimtoleavethemunfinished;namelytheSforzaMonumentan
2、dtheWall-paintingoftheBattleofAnghiari,whilethethird—thepictureoftheLastSupperatMilan—hassufferedirremediableinjuryfromdecayandtherepeatedrestorationstowhichitwasrecklesslysubjectedduringtheXVIIthandXVIIIthcenturies.Nevertheless,nootherpictureoftheRenaissancehas
3、becomesowellknownandpopularthroughcopiesofeverydescription.Vasarisays,andrightly,inhisLifeofLeonardo,"thathelabouredmuchmorebyhiswordthaninfactorbydeed",andthebiographerevidentlyhadinhismindthenumerousworksinManuscriptwhichhavebeenpreservedtothisday.Tous,now,its
4、eemsalmostinexplicablethatthesevaluableandinterestingoriginaltextsshouldhaveremainedsolongunpublished,andindeedforgotten.ItiscertainthatduringtheXVIthandXVIIthcenturiestheirexceptionalvaluewashighlyappreciated.Thisisprovednotmerelybythepriceswhichtheycommanded,b
5、utalsobytheexceptionalinterestwhichhasbeenattachedtothechangeofownershipofmerelyafewpagesofManuscript.That,notwithstandingthiseagernesstopossesstheManuscripts,theircontentsremainedamystery,canonlybeaccountedforbythemanyandgreatdifficultiesattendingthetaskofdecip
6、heringthem.Thehandwritingissopeculiarthatitrequiresconsiderablepracticetoreadevenafewdetachedphrases,muchmoretosolvewithanycertaintythenumerousdifficultiesofalternativereadings,andtomasterthesenseasaconnectedwhole.VasariobserveswithreferencetoLeonardoswriting:"h
7、ewrotebackwards,inrudecharacters,andwiththelefthand,sothatanyonewhoisnotpractisedinreadingthem,cannotunderstandthem".Theaidofamirrorinreadingreversedhandwritingappearstomeavailableonlyforafirstexperimentalreading.Speakingfrommyownexperience,thepersistentuseofiti
8、stoofatiguingandinconvenienttobepracticallyadvisable,consideringtheenormousmassofManuscriptstobedeciphered.Andas,afterall,Leonardo'shandwritingrunsbackwardsjustasallO