History of All Cloven-Hoofed Quadrupeds

An ornamental woodcut header featuring a repeating pattern of floral and foliate motifs, including stylized fleur-de-lis and scrollwork.

TO THE SAME

By Lord Galeotto Pico, Prince of Mirandola.

Of the College of Nobles.

A decorative drop cap 'M' containing a landscape scene with foliage and architecture.

BOLOGNA once fostered you in the lap of the Muses,
And gave to you as a child her milky gifts.
Now she venerates an Alumnus grave with merits and the purple;
And brings learned gifts to a learned Man.
The free interpreter of Nature reveals the wonders
Of the beasts; let him also reveal our devotion.
This volume holds a multitude of beasts, as if a woodland thicket:
To hunt here, O Prince, if it please you, you may go.
There is no need for the blade, for running, for shouting, or for nets;
The prey falls suppliant before your feet.
You, O Prince, do not disdain the petitioning crowd;
For in these beasts all BOLOGNA honors you.

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An ornamental woodcut divider featuring a repeating floral and scrollwork pattern similar to the header.

TO THE SAME

By Count John Paul Pepoli of Bologna. Of the College of Nobles.

A decorative drop cap 'N' containing a scene with architectural elements and foliate scrolls.

LET the Greek ULYSSES no longer contend with the BOLOGNESE:
O victorious BOLOGNA, lift your head above the stars.
That man was skilled in practicing deceits and in lying:
This man teaches nothing except what is true.
That victor was long tossed upon the lands and the deep:
This greater man fears not the hidden shoals of envy.
The Maeonian Bard celebrated that man in song:
This one, O DEMPSTER, shines more brightly through your art.
That man saw the customs and the cities of many men;
Not wandering, this man sees more in his own homeland.
That shipwrecked man boasts of the hospitality of Alcinous:
To be sure, this glory alone is lacking to our friend;
But if you, O LODRON, receive him with a joyful countenance,
He shall be in no way inferior to the Greek’s condition.

A small ornamental woodcut divider with a repeating floral motif.