Leonardo da Vinci manuscript found in France

[Still Waters]

A coded manuscript by Leonardo da Vinci has been discovered in a public library in the French city of Nantes.

The document was found after a journalist came across a reference to it in a Leonardo biography, the library said.

It was among 5,000 manuscripts donated by wealthy collector Pierre-Antoine Labouchere in 1872 and then forgotten.

The text is written from right to left in Leonardo's trademark mirror-writing and has yet to be deciphered.

"He was most probably writing in 15th-century Italian, and possibly in other languages," the head of the Nantes library, Agnes Marcetteau said.

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[JGirl]

it will be interesting to find out what it says.

i wonder why they make it news then say but gee we haven't deciphered it yet.

it's not heiroglyphics for pete sake.

[Kitana2010]

Kinda odd how Davinci put his writings in codes.. really interesting!

[:PsYKoTiC:BeHAvIoR:]

it will be interesting to find out what it says.

i wonder why they make it news then say but gee we haven't deciphered it yet.

it's not heiroglyphics for pete sake.

Slow news day in France?

[Paracelse]

Slow news day in France?

It's cold and snowy so no car burnings no ranting in the streets about the new retirement age (62).

[Paracelse]

138 years to realize that library owns a treasure.... that news is about as fascinating as the discovery. Only in France!

[itsjustlife]

Yeah it's only in Italian, whip out a mirror and let us know what it says already! If you're interested in Da Vinci check out the preview to my book about him at itsjustlife.com =)

[rashore]

maybe it's the secret manuscript that really states he made the codex.. We are making them for christmas gifts this year and it would be AWESOME if we could include that as a real thing with them

[oDaVinci]

Ahh, the mysteries of da Vinci.

[regeneratia]

138 years to realize that library owns a treasure.... that news is about as fascinating as the discovery. Only in France!

Only in France and the Smithsonian. LOL!

(meaning the Smithsonian deliberately buries treasures in their archives and storage space.)

Edited January 6, 2011 by regeneratia

[StarChild 83]

I don't think it's too odd that he wrote a lot of things in code. he could have been worried about people steeling his ideas or fear of being accused of blasphemy or just plain privacy concerns.

[jinxed]

I don't think it's too odd that he wrote a lot of things in code. he could have been worried about people steeling his ideas or fear of being accused of blasphemy or just plain privacy concerns.

That's also my opinion, and a theory that many historians and art experts who deal with Da Vinci accept.

However, Da Vinci still remains a bit mysterious