Phytognomonica

...to find a protector, under whose patronage she The author refers to his book/work as a daughter or female figure. might be rendered safe from that deplorable sort of men; so that, having scarcely crossed the threshold of her tender age, and scarcely departed from her home, before anyone had the opportunity to see her, her fame reached your ears. Thus, she deserved to be loved by you before being seen, and to be longed for before being known. Allow me now to examine in you those qualities which the most diligent fathers seek when arranging marriages for their daughters. While I inquire into the character of your life, moved by your great reputation, I am filled with the greatest joy that a patron ... ... ...? has been obtained, as is fitting for her dignity and merit. For if I attentively weigh your nobility, I admire none with greater singularity; for I recall your ancient fame, passed down through your ancestors as if from hand to hand, and propagated even to these times. While I search with the greatest zeal through the very ancient literary monuments of Ragusa Modern-day Dubrovnik, Croatia. and ancient Epidaurus The Roman predecessor to Ragusa., I find that your ancestors drew their origin from the Roman Fabii. For during the conquest of the whole world, as they held magistracies and led colonies by waging war through diverse parts of the world, their various families were dispersed in different places to become inhabitants.

Remnants of the name still survive; for is not "faba" Latin for "bean." the name for the clan, and "Bobali" derived from the Fabii? Indeed, Pliny Pliny the Elder, Roman naturalist and author. testifies that the Fabii were named after beans. Who does not know the most illustrious insignia of your family through a long series of years to the present day? For the family itself has very often administered the highest magistracy in the Republic with the highest praise and glory, which resulted in your kinsmen being rightly called "Parents of the Fatherland" original: "patriae parentes" by the citizens with one voice and consent. If I look upon the clarity of your name, it is spread further and wider than can be contained by your city, or by neighboring Macedonia (made famous by the great deeds of Alexander), or even by Rome, the mistress of the world. Moreover, though you are second to few in the goods of Fortune, you are easily the first of all in wisely dispensing and distributing them. And if I look upon your likeness, you display not a shadowy image, but the expressed, perfect form of a Hero: you show the hereditary strength of the Fabii in your hands, the dexterity of spirit and genius in your eyes, and you bear the persona of Alexander the Great in your brow—to whom you are as close in munificence as you are in borders. Finally, I perceive nothing in you that does not evidently suggest the greatness of a royal soul, singular character, a blameless life, and an admirable skill for happily devising and handling all things. You are one who promises more in your inner depth than on your outward face. But let my speech return to where it departed. I thrust this daughter of mine headlong out of the house. She has this singular quality of excellence and beauty: she is decorated with no exquisite or affected ornament, but rather with a native, not a purchased, natural...