To the Most Illustrious, High-

Born Prince and Lord, Lord Augustus, Duke of Saxony, Arch-Marshal of the Holy Roman Empire and Elector, Landgrave in Thuringia, and Margrave of Meissen, etc., my most gracious Lord.

Decorative woodcut initial letter 'D' featuring intricate foliate and scrollwork patterns.
Most Illustrious, High-born Elector, most gracious Lord: After Almighty God willed to be known through the creation of the entire firmament, the elements, and all creatures, He made Man and placed him in Paradise, so that he should diligently explore and consider all these things, and thereby recognize, praise, and honor his Creator, so that He might ultimately make him a partaker of His Divine glory, nature, and essence. For this reason, Man is God’s most beloved creature, even above the angels. For He created Man in His own image, but not the angels. Furthermore, when Lucifer and his company fell away from God out of pride, He did not receive the apostate spirits back into grace, but cast them from Heaven into eternal damnation. But when Man—for whose sake He created everything—was led into apostasy by the cunning serpent, whereby he fell into damnation, God had such mercy that He gave His only Son into death for him. Who can sufficiently contemplate or express this love? Since this is so, Man should rightly be recognized as the noblest creature and be held in high honor by everyone; not only because he is a Microcosmus original: "Microcosmus"; a "little world" or miniature universe, reflecting the structure of the entire cosmos within the human body