Leonardo da Vinci · Leather Edition of 498
The thirty-six pages in which Leonardo worked out how a bird stays in the air — hand-bound in goatskin, with its commentary volume, in a gold-inlaid presentation case.
Goatskin facsimile · Commentary volume · Gold-inlaid goatskin case · Numbered certificate
Today $280 · Later 600 USD in specialised bookshops — after the 498th copy: sold out, never reprinted
Ready for immediate dispatch · Worldwide delivery via DHL Express, complimentary, insured and fully tracked
Secure and trusted checkout with
EVERYTHING IN THE CASE
Leonardo's complete treatise on flight — observation, lift, resistance, balance and the ornithopter — reproduced page by page.
Exact reproduction of the original in extent, colour and size, hand-bound in goatskin leather in our atelier.
A goatskin case with a bird inlaid in gold and gold-stamped lettering, made to house the codex.
Expert commentary on Leonardo and the Codex on the Flight of Birds — hardcover with dust jacket.
Numbered 001 to 498 and signed by the publisher, attesting to the number of your copy.
One of only 498 leather copies worldwide.
The story · 1505 — 1893
Fascinated by flight since boyhood, Leonardo sat in the hills above Florence and watched kites and swallows until he understood what they did. He wrote it down in a notebook the size of his hand — and then the notebook itself came apart.
A bird is an instrument working according to mathematical law, an instrument which it is within the capacity of man to reproduce. Leonardo da Vinci · on the flight of birds
Leonardo records how birds rise, glide, descend and turn; how wing and tail keep balance; how wind and thermal currents let them travel with almost no effort.
He names the forces: the sustaining push of air on a curved wing, the resistance of air to an advancing body, the thrust needed to move forward — and the centre of gravity that keeps the whole thing upright.
From the birds he draws the machines: flapping wings driven by the pilot's own muscles, gliders that ride the air like a kite, and notes on a structure that must be both light and strong.
After Leonardo's death two thirds of his fifty thousand sheets are lost. The Codex on Flight passes through Melzi's heirs and, in the nineteenth century, five of its folios are cut out and sold separately.
Theodor Sabachnikoff buys the codex and presents it to King Umberto I; the missing folios return one by one. The Biblioteca Reale of Turin holds all eighteen today.
TGB reproduces the reunited codex at original size, hand-bound in goatskin — 498 numbered copies.
Observation, hypothesis, experiment — the scientific method applied to the air, centuries before Lilienthal and the Wrights.
Eighteen folios, thirty-six pages, every one reproduced at original size with Leonardo's mirror writing intact — the whole codex, not a selection.
Leonardo believed flight was not just a mechanical possibility but proof of human ingenuity — and he had no patience for those who mocked the idea without studying it.
Leather edition of 498 · Available now
Facsimiles are printed once. When the 498th certificate is signed, the plates are retired — this edition is never reprinted.
Or take the whole library
Five editions, one shelf, one number. The Codex on the Flight of Birds 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.
Eighteen folios reproduced at original size, colour and extent, hand-bound in goatskin leather. Mirror writing, marginal sketches and the ornithopter studies exactly as they sit on the Turin sheets.
An expert companion on Leonardo, the history of the codex and a page-by-page reading of his theory of flight — so the mirror writing does not stay a mystery.
Collectors of our Leonardo editions
Real letters from collectors of our Leonardo facsimiles.
★★★★★“I have been wanting to write to tell you how absolutely thrilled I am with my copy of the Codex Leicester!”
★★★★★“Thank you. I have placed my order. This will be my 6th order from you. Beautiful products. Fantastic quality.”
★★★★★“As a collector of cultural artifacts, this is one of my latest acquisitions. I love the velvet case and the leather-bound books. I also appreciate the accompanying books.”
★★★★★“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 001–498 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 small manuscript of eighteen folios — thirty-six pages — written by Leonardo in 1505–1506. In it he analyses how birds rise, glide and turn, names the forces of lift, resistance and thrust, and sketches the flying machines he derived from them. It is regarded as the first treatise on aerodynamics.
In the Biblioteca Reale of Turin. Theodor Sabachnikoff presented it to King Umberto I in 1893; the five folios that had been cut out and sold in the nineteenth century were recovered later and the codex is complete today.
498 numbered leather copies worldwide. Each certificate is numbered 001 to 498 and signed by the publisher, and the edition is never reprinted.
A facsimile. The codex is reproduced page by page — same dimensions, same colour, same layout, Leonardo's mirror writing intact — on art paper chosen to match the original, and hand-bound in goatskin. It is not a re-typeset modern reprint.
The hand-bound goatskin facsimile of the codex, an expert commentary volume in hardcover with dust jacket, the numbered and signed certificate, and the goatskin presentation case with a bird inlaid in gold.
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 on the Flight of Birds is open at $280 instead of 600 USD — until the last certificate is signed.
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