Miscellaneous
Fragments, Lists, and the Texture of Daily Life
Boots — stockings — a jerkin and shoes — four pairs of hose — a chamois skin jerkin — shoes of chamois skin — to make some boxes.
— Leonardo da Vinci (packing list)
Overview
The miscellaneous notes are the residue of Leonardo's daily existence — the entries that don't fit anywhere else. Household accounts, packing lists for journeys, the names of engineers and craftsmen he wanted to consult, notes about what Salai stole from the workshop, records of Caterina's funeral expenses, a health regimen in verse, reminders to buy bread and wine.
Richter collected these under "Miscellaneous Notes" (§1379–1467), and they are, in a way, the most human material in the entire corpus. Here is Leonardo not as genius but as a man managing a household, planning a trip, keeping track of money.
Household Accounts
§1379–1393 — The cost of living
1379. On the first day of January. 1 cloth — lire 4; 1 cloth — lire 10; stockings — lire 4; a jerkin — lire 8; to the barber — s. 10; for provisions — lire 4.
1382. On the morning of Santo Zanobio the 25th of May 1504, I had from Leonardo Vinci 15 gold ducats, of which I spent: — for the gravedigger lire 4, to the priests 3, to the friars 2, lire 4 for wax, for carrying the body lire 8, lire 4 for the bell, for the bier lire 8.
This entry, though written in another hand, records the funeral expenses for Caterina, believed to be Leonardo's mother.
Lists and Reminders
Packing, people, and things to do
Boots — stockings — a jerkin and shoes — four pairs of hose — a chamois skin jerkin — shoes of chamois skin — to make some boxes.
Find a master of waterworks and get him to tell you how to repair a lock, canal and mill in the Lombard fashion. A Master Giovanni who has the bombard models. The crossbow of Maestro Gianetto. The book of Giovanni Taverna that Messer Fazio has.
C.A.
On Salai
Leonardo's troublesome apprentice
On the 7th day of September he stole the pen, that is, a silverpoint of the value of 22 soldi, from Marco who was living with me; and he stole it from his studio; and when the said Marco had searched for it a long while he found it hidden in the said Giacomo's box.
Item: on the 26th of January following, I being in the house of Messer Galeazzo da Sanseverino, to arrange the festival of his jousting, and certain footmen having undressed to try on some costumes of wild men for the said festival, Giacomo went to the purse of one of them which lay on the bed with other clothes, and took out such money as was in it.
C.A. — "Giacomo" is Gian Giacomo Caprotti, called Salai ("little devil"), who entered Leonardo's household in 1490 at age 10. Despite constant thieving, he remained with Leonardo for over 25 years.
The miscellaneous notes are my favourite section. They're the parts where you meet Leonardo the person, not Leonardo the icon. He lists his expenses. He complains about his apprentice stealing money. He writes down what to pack for a journey. He records the cost of his mother's funeral — four pounds of wax, a bier, the gravediggers. These fragments are more revealing than any treatise. -D