TO MASTER HANZELET.

Copperplate Engraver to His Highness at the University of Pont-à-Mousson. Jean Appier Hanzelet was a famous engraver and engineer in the Duchy of Lorraine; "Son Altesse" (His Highness) refers to the Duke of Lorraine.

Beautiful Art that our spirit must love with delight,
These craftsmen have given you such fine ornament,
That your fires stand so far above all artifice,
As fire itself surpasses the lowest Element. In the traditional four elements (earth, air, fire, water), fire was considered the "highest" and most pure.

TO MASTER HANZELET.

These thunderbolts, Hanzelet, that your burin a steel tool used for engraving copper plates traces for us,
Cannot always cast the low wall down;
But your subtle mind, which surpasses our own,
Wins a victory every time it deigns to apply itself. The "thunderbolts" likely refer to the engravings of cannons and artillery found within this book.

Another.

Man is most often of a mixed Nature,
Only half-perfected in his perfections;
One houses a heavy and dull spirit in a beautiful body,
While to an Aesop: the ancient Greek fabulist who was traditionally described as physically deformed but immensely wise Aesop a beautiful spirit is given.
This man conceives well but cannot express himself,
The other babbles on without a single thought.
But above all others, Hanzelet, you must be esteemed:
For you alone are gifted with two of the rarest treasures,
Which exalt the mind and elevate the body:
You have an open spirit, and a prompt, skillful hand.

Another.

Hanzelet, setting down in writing
His most secret conceptions,
Has, to make them more perfect,
Lent his hand to his mind.