The manuscripts of Leonardo da Vinci, the great artist and thinker of the Renaissance, have come down to us in the form of many scattered fragments devoted to a wide variety of fields of knowledge. The translators and compilers of this collection of da Vinci's literary works sought to fully reveal the breadth of his theoretical and practical interests and to reflect the universalism of Leonardo the artist and Leonardo the scientist.

In addition to da Vinci's texts, the publication contains reproductions of drawings and sketches from his manuscripts, as well as detailed commentary by the translators.