Dedication.

—sophical and mining original German: Bergmännischen discourse. Ludovicus Lazarelli Lodovico Lazzarelli (1447–1500) was an Italian humanist and poet who became a central figure in Renaissance Hermeticism, believing that true wisdom came from a "divine" understanding of nature's secrets. says:

Philosophers, for the sake of knowing the deep secrets of nature, have at times dared to enter caves, and to dwell in forests and mountains, so that with skillful ingenuity they might examine the stars original Latin: sydera; the author implies a connection between celestial influence and the growth of metals underground, what powers they have, and which places of the earth are suitable for metals, what materials they are, and what distinction is in them. And therefore, for their own benefit and that of their sons original Latin: filiorum suorum; in alchemical literature, "sons" refers to initiated students or those who follow in the footsteps of the masters, this divine mastery original Latin: divinum magisterium; often referring to the "Great Work" or the discovery of the Philosopher's Stone was found through their long investigation original Latin: investigationem, because only philosophers and their sons understand the power of nature and are not ignorant of its disposition.