Leonardo da Vinci’s Codex Hammer
This manuscript got sold for $30,802,500 in 1994.
Leonardo da Vinci, the true Renaissance man he was, meticulously recorded his thoughts, musings and sketches in journals throughout his life. Of the 30 that still remain, his most famous is the Codex Hammer, named for the British nobleman who acquired the 72-page journal in 1717. Three years after Bill Gates bought the historic diary, he released a digitally scanned version for all the world to enjoy. Now it has been sold again this time for one hefty price.
He was not always as successful as we think of him today. Throughout his life Leonardo da Vinci was plagued by a sense of failure, in-completion and time wasted. His favorite phrase, which he unconsciously repeated to himself whenever he scribbled something to see if a newly cut pen was working, was “Tell me, tell me if anything got finished.”
