SECTION I.

On Hieroglyphic Arithmetic.

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TO THE MOST EXALTED PRINCE AND LORD OF THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE

L O R D

FERDINAND JOHANN

Prince of Liechtenstein and Nikolsburg, Duke

of Teschen,

Almost three lustra A lustrum is a five-year period; Kircher is referring to a period of fifteen years. have passed, Most Exalted Prince, since by some fate of mine, or perhaps by the breath of some favorable star, while you were staying with me in Rome, you took up the study of both the other Arts and Sciences and especially of divine Mathematics original: "Matheseos" with such ardor of soul, and mastered them with such perfection—a rare example—that as much as the cypress stands above the wayfaring trees A quote from Virgil’s Eclogues, used here to describe the Prince's intellectual superiority over his peers., so much did You excel among others (such is the sublimity of Your genius), becoming a participant in all the secrets original: "arcanorum" contained within my works. Therefore, since I have found Your Highness to be delighted more than others by arguments involving more hidden and intricate Arithmetic, I found no one to whom I could more rightfully judge this present Treatise original: "Syntagma"—which is titled "On the Hieroglyphic Arithmetic of the Ancients"—to be consecrated in honor of Your name. Accept, therefore, this perpetual tekmērion (a Greek term for a "sure sign" or "proof") of my affection and respect for You. You will find here the most worthy pastures for Your most capable mind; you will enter the widest fields of new demonstrations, where you may test the strengths of Your supreme intellect. Farewell, Prince most distinguished in every kind of virtue, and as you have always been accustomed, do not cease to love Your friend, whom you have loved.

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