An ornamental woodcut headpiece features a central winged cherub head flanked by decorative swags of fruit and leaves. Below this, a large decorative capital letter "V" is set within a square border decorated with floral patterns, marking the start of the main text.

EDITOR.

It seemed to me it would be worth the effort if I were to ensure that the many judgments regarding Authors—which the most noble writer, Sir Thomas Pope-Blount Sir Thomas Pope-Blount (1649–1697) was an English baronet and author. His Censura Celebriorum Authorum (Critique of More Famous Authors) was a vital reference work in the late 17th century., had presented throughout this work in the native languages of the scholars from whose writings he had taken them—were translated into Latin original: "Latinitate donari" — literally "to be gifted with Latinity." In this era, Latin was the universal language of science and scholarship; the editor is explaining that he translated Blount's original English, French, and Italian quotes into Latin so scholars across Europe could read them.. Blount likely did this either to show himself a master of many languages, or perhaps to avoid being accused of altering the original words. My goal was to make this excellent work useful to the whole community of the learned original: "Literatorum vulgo" — The "common crowd of the lettered," referring to the 'Republic of Letters,' the international intellectual community of the time., who are not always skilled in every language used across Europe, so they might benefit from it without the help of a translator. This is what I wished to convey to you, Kind Reader original: "Candide Lector" — A standard, polite greeting in early modern prefaces, literally meaning "fair-minded" or "honest" reader.. Use and enjoy this work.