DA VINCI’S SKETCH BOOKS.

Da Vinci always carried in his pocket a book, in which he was in the habit of sketching every remarkable face, object, and effect of nature that struck his fancy; and these sketches supplied him with abundant materials for his compositions. Caylus published a collection of beautiful sketches and studies by Lionardo, under the title of Recueil de Tetes de Caractères et de Charges, &c., 1730, of which there is also a German edition. Two more were published at Milan in 1784, under the titles of Desseins de Leonardo da Vinci, Gravés par Ch. T. Gerli, and Osservazioni sopra i Disegni di Lionardo dall’ Abbate Amoretti, &c. Besides these appeared in London in 1796, engravings of the numerous sketches of Lionardo in the possession of the King of England, entitled Imitations of Original Designs of Lionardo da Vinci, &c., published by Chamberlaine, folio. See also the Life of Lionardo da Vinci in German, published at Halle in 1819.