What Master Porta extensively presents in his Preface.

That he, namely, wrote this book in the fifteenth year of his age / and that it immediately pleased everyone to such an extent / that it was straightway translated into the Italian, French, Spanish, and Arabic languages and sent to press; but that later, in the fiftieth year of his age, he had it printed again in an improved form: Furthermore / that for its preparation he not only most diligently read through the ancient writings / and placed the best from them herein / but also on his travels through Italy, France, and Spain, he diligently visited the most prominent libraries and the most learned people / learned many things from all sorts of artisansoriginal: "Künstlern"; in this context, it refers to skilled craftsmen, alchemists, and technicians rather than fine artists. / with those / where he was not personally

known / he exchanged many letters / and also applied all possible skill and diligence to learn all sorts of new inventions and arts through requests, gifts, and exchanges: Also, that he afterwards put the things and pieces themselves to the test / and investigated them / expending great effort by day and night / and much expense / and also received stately assistance for this from other noble lords / and employed many clever and practiced people for manual labororiginal: "Hand-Arbeit"; Porta famously established the "Academia Secretorum Naturae" in Naples, where he and his associates conducted physical experiments.: Not least because of this, he was even—though quite innocently—decried as a sorcereroriginal: "Zauberer"; Della Porta's experiments in natural magic often drew the suspicion of the Church, leading to an investigation by the Inquisition. / and how he denies the same: all of this we have / for the sake of much-desired brevity / diligently omitted here / and so we proceed to the work itself / whose