Sheet of faint mechanical and architectural sketches
A rowed vessel, toothed wheels, vaulted structures and repeated pen-trials
This lightly-inked sheet carries dozens of small, faint sketches: wheels and gear-trains, vaulted and domed structures, bell- or funnel-shaped forms, and several boats or prows. A note above a ship in section observes that once the vessel is under way its oars will have no labour, and a partly-toothed wheel is marked with the fraction 1/20. In one lower corner Leonardo has scribbled the repeated pen-trial 'Tell me... Tell me if ever,' and a pointed prow is labelled 'foundation.' Much of the drawing is faint and further untranscribed jottings are present.
On this page
Repeated pen-trials: 'Tell me if ever'
In the lower-left quarter the same phrases are written over and over — 'Tell me if you have done to me a thing that...,' 'Make me a thing,' 'Tell me,' 'Tell me if ever.' They read as idle pen-trials rather than a continuous text.
A rowed vessel that needs no oars once under way
Above a ship drawn in section Leonardo notes that once it is under way the oars will have no labour. The remark accompanies several small boat and prow sketches on the sheet.
Gear ratio 1/20 on a toothed wheel
A partly-toothed wheel is annotated with the fraction 1/20, apparently a gearing ratio. It sits among the small mechanical sketches on the sheet.
Studies of domes, vaults and arched structures
Across the sheet are many small architectural forms — arched and vaulted structures, domes and tabernacle-like shapes. They are faintly drawn and share the leaf with the mechanical studies.