TO THE NOBLE MAN

LORD ANDREAS SCHADCO-

vius, Notary of the Krakow Salt

Mines, an ornament to his country, Conrad

Gesner the Swiss

Sends Greetings. original: "S. D." for "Salutem Dicit," a standard Latin greeting meaning "He says health" or "He sends greetings."

A decorative woodcut initial 'P' containing a figurative scene, possibly depicting a religious or mythological figure within an architectural or landscape frame. The letter 'P' completes the first word of the text, "Prae."

YOUR OUTSTANDING and singular virtues, most noble man and respected patron, and especially your fervent pursuit of sincere piety and your learning—which is excellent among men of your rank—have easily led me for a long time now to choose you as one to be looked up to and honored by me. But after I learned from the letters of Antonius Schneeberger (once my dearest citizen and student, now a most learned and celebrated physician in your kingdom's most famous city of Krakow Krakow was the capital of the Kingdom of Poland and a major center of Renaissance learning.) that you also deigned to favor me with love and goodwill—a man unknown to you by face, perhaps delighted by my literary labors original: "lucubrationibus," literally "works produced by lamplight," referring to scholarly writing done at night. such as they are—and after I moreover perceived some fruit of your generosity: in what way might I show a spirit that is both most respectful and most affectionate toward you, and not ungrateful...