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much akin (see No. 1476). All his notes on various authors,
excepting those which have already been inserted in the previous
section, have been arranged alphabetically for the sake of
convenience (1469--1508).
The passages next in order contain accounts and inventories
principally of household property. The publication of these--often
very trivial entries--is only justifiable as proving that the
wealth, the splendid mode of life and lavish expenditure which have
been attributed to Leonardo are altogether mythical; unless we put
forward the very improbable hypothesis that these notes as to money
in hand, outlay and receipts, refer throughout to an exceptional
state of his affairs, viz. when he was short of money.
The memoranda collected at the end (No. 1505--1565) are, in the
original, in the usual writing, from left to right. Besides, the
style of the handwriting is at variance with what we should expect
it to be, if really Leonardo himself had written these notes. Most
of them are to be found in juxtaposition with undoubtedly authentic
writing of his. But this may be easily explained, if we take into
account the fact, that Leonardo frequently wrote on loose sheets. He
may therefore have occasionally used paper on which others had made
short memoranda, for the most part as it would seem, for his use. At
the end of all I have given Leonardo's will from the copy of it
preserved in the Melzi Library. It has already been printed by
Amoretti and by Uzielli. It is not known what has become of the
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