Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks
The V&A holds five notebooks owned by Leonardo da Vinci – a unique insight into one of the greatest minds of the Italian Renaissance
Manuscripts
Plan a visitThe National Art Library holds a rich collection of unique manuscript material ranging from the Middle Ages to the present day, in the form of bound volumes, single documents and whole archives. It encompasses illuminated manuscripts, modern calligraphy, literary manuscripts, how-to recipe books, papers of antiquarians, artists and scholars, correspondence, inventories, business papers, and many more miscellaneous wonders.
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Highlights include five notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci, the original manuscripts for most of Charles Dickens’s novels, calligraphic work by Edward Johnston, one of Jonathan Swift’s diaries, a missal made in the 14th century for the Abbey of Saint-Denis in Paris, and the archives of Joseph Archer Crowe and Giovanni Battista Cavalcaselle, 19th-century specialists of Italian Renaissance art.
Collection Highlights
Features
Explore 'Entartete Kunst': The Nazis' inventory of 'degenerate art'
A unique document providing crucial information about the provenance, exhibition history and fate of each artwork confiscated by the Nazi regime
Piccolpasso's treatise on maiolica
The V&A not only holds the greatest collection of maiolica in the world, but also this unique treatise describing its manufacture.
Illuminated manuscripts
Discover the V&A's vast collection of illuminated manuscripts and cuttings
'Entartete Kunst': The Nazis' inventory of 'degenerate art'
Discover the story behind this unique document
