Leonardo da Vinci · Edition of 998
The world's most expensive book — Leonardo's seventy-two pages on water, the moon and the fossils in the mountains — hand-bound with its commentary volume in a brown velvet case.
Hand-bound facsimile · Commentary volume · Brown velvet case · Parchment certificate
Today $240 · Later 400 USD — after the 998th case: sold out, never reprinted
Ready for immediate dispatch · Worldwide delivery via DHL Express, complimentary, insured and fully tracked
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EVERYTHING IN THE CASE
All seventy-two pages — water, geology, astronomy, the light of the moon — reproduced at original size and colour.
Leaves hand-sewn and trimmed to the original format, in a handmade leather-like binding with suede strap.
Recognised experts on all of Leonardo's notebooks and on this one in particular — the only codex in private hands. Hardcover with dust jacket.
An elegant brown velvet presentation box for the facsimile and its companion.
Numbered 001 to 998, printed on natural parchment.
One of only 998 copies worldwide. Made in Barcelona.
The story · 1508 — 1994
In 1994 Bill Gates told his wife he was about to spend thirty million dollars on a notebook. She asked whether his laptop wasn't good enough. He meant a notebook for notes — Leonardo's — and paid what would be sixty million today.
As you walk through the city, observe, note and consider the circumstances and the behaviour of people as they talk and argue or laugh or strike each other. Leonardo da Vinci · a reminder to himself
Leonardo, in his late fifties, fills eighteen double sheets with the subject that obsessed him all his life: water — springs, rivers, tides — and, alongside it, why the moon shines and how seashells came to lie on mountaintops.
Thomas Coke, later Earl of Leicester, buys the manuscript in Rome. For two and a half centuries it stays at Holkham Hall in Norfolk and takes the family's name.
Armand Hammer buys it at auction for $5.1 million and renames it the Codex Hammer. Leonardo's notebook becomes the most expensive manuscript ever sold.
Bill Gates pays $30.8 million at Christie's, restores the name Leicester, and lends it to museums around the world — the only Leonardo notebook not in a European institution.
TGB reproduces all seventy-two pages at original size and colour, hand-sewn, with a commentary volume, in a brown velvet case — 998 numbered copies.
Springs, tides, the moon's light, fossils in the mountains: one of the few treatises Leonardo compiled and nearly finished himself.
Every other notebook sits in a European library. This is the one that changes hands — and the one you can own in facsimile.
Seventy-two pages of right-to-left script, diagrams of eddies and dams, and the thinking of a man who never stopped taking notes.
Edition of 998 · Available now
Facsimiles are printed once. When the 998th certificate is numbered, the plates are retired — this edition is never reprinted.
Or take the whole library
Five editions, one shelf, one number. The Codex Leicester is included — and the set costs less than buying the five separately.
Complimentary worldwide shipping · English companion volumes included · 41 fine art plates across the set.
The record · 2019 — 2026
Three have already closed. This is what a TGB Leonardo edition does: it is announced, it is numbered, and it disappears.
Facsimile and companion
Two volumes in the case: Leonardo's, and ours.
Full-size colour reproduction of the entire manuscript: pages trimmed to the original format, leaves hand-sewn, in a handmade leather-like binding with suede strap.
Recognised experts review all of Leonardo's surviving notebooks and this one above all — its science, its journey, its owners. Printed on 120 g Munken paper, stitched hardcover with rounded spine, dust jacket to match the case.
Collectors of the Codex Leicester
Real letters from collectors of the Codex Leicester — and of our other Leonardo editions.
★★★★★“I have been wanting to write to tell you how absolutely thrilled I am with my copy of the Codex Leicester! You folks were right in switching the box to that lovely velvet-like material. It just completes the whole sumptuousness of the facsimile and its case.”
★★★★★“I was really impressed with this edition of the Codex Leicester. The book is beautifully made, with clear reproductions of Leonardo's sketches and notes.”
★★★★★“Thank you. I have placed my order. This will be my 6th order from you. Beautiful products. Fantastic quality.”
★★★★★“I received my most recently ordered Leonardo production. It is amazing — and thank you.”
★★★★★“Just a quick note to let you know that I have now unpacked my order — the craftsmanship is quite extraordinary.”
★★★★★“Your facsimile is a wonderful addition to my library — the paper and the binding are exactly right.”
The atelier
A reprint re-typesets the text. A facsimile reproduces the object: the same trim, the same colour of the aged sheet, the same bleed of the 16th-century ink into the fibre. Ours are bound by hand, one at a time, and the number on your certificate is never issued again.
No risk
Open it, handle it, put it on the shelf. If it isn't what you expected, return it within 30 days for a full refund.
Numbers are assigned in order of purchase. Ordering today puts you higher in the 001–998 sequence.
Free tracked shipping worldwide, packed for transit. Damaged in transit is replaced, not repaired.
Galobart editions are held in private collections and libraries across more than 60 countries.
Questions
A 72-page manuscript written by Leonardo between about 1508 and 1510 — one of the few treatises he compiled and nearly finished himself. Its central subject is water and its movement, but it also explains why the moon shines, how springs form and why fossil seashells are found on mountains.
Because it is. Armand Hammer bought it for $5.1 million in 1980; Bill Gates paid $30.8 million at Christie's in 1994 — the equivalent of some $60 million today. It is the only Leonardo notebook not held by a European museum or library.
998 numbered copies worldwide. Each certificate, printed on natural parchment, is numbered 001 to 998 and the edition is never reprinted.
A facsimile. All 72 pages are reproduced at original size and colour, trimmed to the original format, the leaves hand-sewn — with Leonardo's mirror writing intact. It is not a re-typeset modern reprint.
The hand-bound facsimile of the codex, an expert commentary volume in hardcover with dust jacket, the numbered certificate on natural parchment, and the brown velvet collector's case.
This edition is in stock and ready for immediate dispatch. Orders ship within a few days via DHL Express — complimentary, insured and fully tracked worldwide.
Yes. The Leonardo — Collector's Set brings together five editions: Codex Madrid I & II (Leather Edition), Codex Trivulzianus, Codex Leicester, Codex on the Flight of Birds (Leather Edition) and the Treatise on Painting — 1460 USD instead of 2960 USD bought separately.
Yes — complimentary shipping is applied automatically at checkout on every order, worldwide, via tracked courier. Any import duty applicable in your country is not included in the price.
Three of our Leonardo editions have already closed. The Codex Leicester is open at $240 instead of 400 USD — until the last certificate is numbered.
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