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THE AUTHOR'S PREFACE

TO THE READERS.

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Behold this premature work, honest Readers; if I had added to it that embellishment which I had truly intended in my mind, I might perhaps have better satisfied—with a fuller service—those who are greedy for the hidden secrets of nature and literature. For while these things began to be tested, some individuals, seeking glory from the labors of others, since they claimed such a task for themselves, were forging various writings from every source. The malice of the envious was so great that while these secrets were being searched for too greedily, they came forth into the light of men mutilated and disorganized sooner than we had expected. Indeed, every diligent student will be able to notice that many things regarding that famous medicine original: "pharmaco"; here referring to the "Philosopher's Stone" or the "Universal Medicine" sought by alchemists to cure all diseases and transmute metals. of the philosophers—matters neither unpleasant nor useless—are omitted, as well as things of greater weight which, because they required a long time, were still in progress. Furthermore, many things, examined too severely by the sharp rod of the censors original: "censorum virga"; a reference to the Roman Inquisition and the censors of the Press. Della Porta’s work was often under scrutiny for bordering on forbidden magic., are deleted, torn apart, and removed, not without my grief. These were things worthy of admiration and a clever philosopher, rather than being a profane work; hence, since I cannot do what I wish, I must necessarily wish for what I can do.

Since from my early youth an innate desire for hearing and knowing these things was born in me, it grew so much as I came of age that with more accurate and persistent study, day and night, I turned over whatever monuments of our ancestors survived; and if they uttered even a word on the subject, I noted it down. Nor did I apply less diligent ears to any who were experts in these matters, or if such things could be known in any way; and I explored what was read and heard through long-term experience, so that nothing remained untried. For I often remembered the sentiment of Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero, the Roman statesman and orator whose works were the foundation of Renaissance Latin education., who said thus:

It is only fair that those who desire to pass down to memory things most useful, well-weighed, and explored for the human race, should try all things, and nev- The sentence continues onto the next page.