Coffee Break: Leonardo da Vinci’s Codex Leicester, the World’s Most Expensive Book

Hello my dear friends!

It’s been a little while since my last coffee post—I’ve been balancing work and life, but I’m back with my favorite ritual.

You already know: I love coffee, and I need at least a one cup a day to feel human.

But instead of coffee trivia today, let’s talk about something fascinating: the Codex Leicester.

The Codex Leicester

The Codex Leicester is one of Leonardo da Vinci’s most remarkable work and a true window into his brilliant mind. Written in the early 1500s, it’s a notebook filled with his thoughts on science, nature, and the universe. Leonardo used his famous mirror writing—backward script that can only be read with a mirror—to jot down ideas about water flow, fossils, astronomy, and even the way the moon shines. It’s less like a finished book and more like opening his private journal of experiments and questions.

What makes the Codex so special is not just the content but also its legacy.

In 1994, Bill Gates purchased it at auction for $30.8 million, making it the most expensive book ever sold. Since then, it has been loaned to museums around the world, giving people the chance to see Leonardo’s genius up close.

It’s a blend of art, science, and imagination that proves how far ahead of his time he really was.

Facts About the Codex Leicester:

• Written by Leonardo da Vinci between 1506–1510.
• It’s made up of 36 pages (72 written sides) of notes and drawings.
• Leonardo’s handwriting runs right to left in his signature mirror script—some believe he did this to avoid smudging ink as a left-hander.
• A central theme is water: he studied rivers, tides, and erosion, trying to understand how water shaped the Earth.
• He argued that fossils on mountains proved they were once under the sea—centuries ahead of modern geology.
• He proposed that the faint glow on the dark side of the moon comes from sunlight reflected by Earth—what we now call Earthshine.
• The Codex blends art and science—his sketches are both visually beautiful and scientifically insightful.
• It changed hands several times before Bill Gates bought it in 1994 for $30.8 million at Christie’s auction in New York.
• Gates renamed it the Codex Leicester after its earlier owner, the Earl of Leicester, and has loaned it to museums worldwide so the public can see it.
• Fun twist: Gates had digital images of the Codex included as screensavers in Microsoft products in the late 1990s.
• It’s not Leonardo’s only notebook—around 30 codices still survive today, scattered across collections in Europe and the U.S.

I love the thought that da Vinci was sipping on ideas the way we sip on coffee—pouring creativity into every page.

“A cup of coffee shared with a friend is happiness tasted and time well spent.”

Someone

---

Here’s to good coffee, good company, and a little spark of curiosity to brighten the day.

If you would like to contribute to my blog, you can please do so here

• Instagram
• Twitter
• Facebook
• Pinterest
• LinkedIn
• Bluesky
• WordPress
• Link
• Link