DEDICATORY EPISTLE

my little work original: Opufculi; a humble diminutive used by authors to describe their own books., and had heard of its secrets, you urgently requested that it be made public property as soon as possible. This work, now complete in all its parts, I reverently lay before the August feet of Your Majesty with all the affection of obedience and respect that is due, to You as a most munificent patron original: Mecœnati; a reference to Gaius Maecenas, the famous Roman patron of the arts who supported Virgil and Horace.. If this should find favor with You, most Sacred EMPEROR; behold, overflowing with joy, I shall sing these lines from the Poet more freely:

Now we are worthy of the ears of the masters and the royal halls,
And the lyre original: Chelys; a poetic term for a stringed instrument, literally "tortoise shell." sounds, played with Augustus as judge.
These lines are adapted from the Roman poet Martial (Epigrams, Book 4), comparing the Emperor to Augustus Caesar.

And with these words, laying down my pen, I ardently pray to God, the Best and Greatest original: Opt[imo] Max[imo]; a title for the Divine borrowed from the Roman "Jupiter Optimus Maximus.", that with your enemies subdued, you may triumph in the happiness of the coming age. Farewell, Pillar of the World, Hope and Salvation of the Christian Commonwealth.