·        As the most imposing collection of Leonardo papers after the Codex Atlanticus, the Codex Arundel too is a volume composed after Leonardo's death with numerous signatures made up of sheets that Leonardo himself kept loose pending their final arrangement: 283 sheets of about 19 x 12.5 cm for a total of 556 pages often compiled as double sheets.

 ·        Thus a volume arbitrarily formed, in which the sheets have come to be gathered without any criteria of subject-matter grouping or chronological sequence. The only exception is the first signature of thirty sheets that starts out with the famous compilation program dated 22^nd March 1508.

        The codex as a whole is often attributed to this date, but it includes material of the widest chronological scope, ranging from the early and equally famous descriptions of the prehistoric sea monster and of the fearful cavern (c. 1478-80) to the latest projects for the majestic royal residence at Romorantin in France, datable about 1518.

      The Trustees of the British Library have exceptionally permitted to have the codex taken apart in order to ensure it the same editorial program as applied to the recent facsimile editions of the Leonardo papers at Windsor Castle and in the Codex Hammer

      This publication, which concludes the monumental undertaking of the Italian National Edition of Leonardo's Manuscripts and Drawings, builds on the work of generations of scholars and presents itself as a new phase in the study and interpretation of Leonardo's extraordinary legacy.

  Two volumes bound in full leather with gold stamping on the spine. Volume I: Text of about 350 pages with Introduction, tables of concordance, repertories of watermarks, bibliography, text illustrations, transcriptions of Leonardo's manuscript pages, commentaries and indexes. Volume II: Solander box of 156 plates for a total of 312 facsimiles. Size: 48.8 x 34 x 7 cm (each volume).

Leonardo's involvement with art, science and technology is fully represented in the Codex Arundel with documents made accessible for the first time in their original form and order.