Preface

He has entrusted his papers to my faithful hands. I shall preserve them and, in due time, deposit them in a public library. There is much within them that can be of use to our contemporaries and to posterity. — I have chosen not to include the original handwritten letters of the persons involved in this history. — I shall carefully observe how many a person deports himself toward Cedrinus. "Cedrinus" is a pseudonym used to protect the identity of the individual involved. In the 18th century, such "key novels" or "secret histories" often used botanical or classical names for real people to avoid legal or social repercussions.

I had much more to say to the Public in this preface; but I must break off. At this very moment, Cedrinus lies dangerously ill. Perhaps he will not live to see his own history fully in print. — Oh! Honest man, wherever you live, whatever you do: beware of societies that shun the light! The phrase "societies that shun the light" (lichtscheue Gesellschaften) was a common 18th-century polemic against secret orders like the Rosicrucians or the Illuminati, suggesting their secrecy hid subversive or irrational goals.