Letter draft, names and proverbs with military mechanisms
A verse line, a list of Florentine names and proverbs above sketches of spring-driven weapons
The upper half is a page of writing: the opening of a letter, a quoted verse line 'If it be not love, what then is it?', and a list of names — Bernardo di Simone, Salvestro di Stefano, Bernardo d'Iacopo, Francesco di Matteo Bonciani, Antonio di Giovanni Ruberti — mixed with repeated pen-trials and Latin fragments. Two proverbs are set down, on the man who wastes time and the ass that believes itself a stag. The lower half carries sketches of spring-driven wheeled devices and a crossbow-spanning mechanism; the Ambrosiana index notes a device for firing a light cannon underwater and a wheel raised by a pyramidal screw.
On this page
Letter opening, a verse line and a list of names
The block begins with the start of a letter, 'I found myself in days past… having been urged', and the verse line 'If it be not love, what then is it?'. It then lists five names and repeats phrases as pen-trials, ending with Latin fragments 'et maximo' and 'vestra'.
Two proverbs
Among the jottings are two sayings: 'He who has time and waits for time loses the friend and never has money', and 'He who is an ass and believes himself a stag…'. They are written amid repeated syllables and false starts.
Spring-driven military mechanisms
The lower half shows wheeled spring-driven devices and a crossbow-spanning frame. The Ambrosiana index records a device for setting fire to a light cannon (passavolante) underwater, indicating the military purpose of these sketches, which the transcribed captions do not cover.
Wheel raised by a pyramidal screw
Among the lower drawings is a geared wheel and screw assembly. The Ambrosiana index describes a wheel that can be raised by means of a pyramidal screw, matching the screw-and-wheel fitting sketched at the lower left.