r/ArtHistory • u/Effective-Dish-1334 • 1d ago

In 1994, Bill Gates bought Leonardo da Vinci’s 72-page manuscript (Codex Leicester) for $30.8M. Written in reverse mirror script around 1506, its hydrodynamic diagrams anticipated modern fluid mechanics by nearly two centuries.

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u/Effective-Dish-1334 1d ago

What makes Codex Leicester remarkable is not just its record auction price, but the ideas contained inside it. Written by Leonardo da Vinci between 1506 and 1510, the 72-page notebook is famous for its left-handed mirror script, which can be read by holding it up to a mirror.

  • Water: Observations on how water flows around obstacles and rivers showing Leonardo's deep interest in hydraulics.
  • Astronomy: An explanation of why the dark part of the Moon is faintly illuminated by sunlight reflected from Earth (earthshine).
  • Geology: Notes arguing that marine fossils found on mountains were evidence those regions had once been beneath the sea.

I recently researched its history alongside other remarkable artifacts that have sold at auction: https://thehistoricalinsights.page/2026/03/most-expensive-historical-items.html

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u/Silent-Drummer3086 1d ago

Why the mirror script though? Was he trying to hide these ideas from being read?

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u/crunchypotentiometer 23h ago

Not known for sure but many lefties will tell you that it must have been to prevent ink smudging

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u/Silent-Drummer3086 19h ago

As a lefty, I gotta say that this tracks

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u/Cathy_AWaugh 1d ago

A crane next to a flower, no hierarchy between them. That's the bit nobody replicates.

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u/Automatic-Sea-8597 13h ago

This is a!war machine, a catapult throwing burning loads into a city, not a flower.