Manuscripts of Leonardo da Vinci: Their History, with a Description of the Manuscript Editions in Facsimile, by the Elmer Belt Library (HC, 1948, $15, which is 1/3 the internet price.)
Elmer Belt was a urological surgeon in California. He also loved da Vinci, studying and collecting his works for 60 years. Some of da Vinci's works were copied so as to be available to the public. The actual manuscripts had come from all over, some stolen from Italy by Napoleon but returned by Wellington. Even King Charles had misplaced some of them. They were eventually found in 1778, locked in an old chest at Windsor Castle.
This book gives descriptions of the da Vinci works available to be viewed in facsimile. The manuscripts themselves were donated by Belt to the University of California in 1961. Strangely enough, Belt is also famous for something completely different. In the late 1950s he used his surgical skills to perform some of the first male to female sex reassignments. By 1962 his family pressured him to stop doing the surgeries, and he did so.
Look for this book in the glass case at the front of the store, avail. 12/21.
