An ornate engraving features two saints, likely Saint Peter holding keys and Saint Paul holding a sword, seated atop a decorative coat of arms. A dove, representing the Holy Spirit, descends between them. The coat of arms features vertical stripes and is surmounted by a papal tiara and crossed keys.

TO OUR MOST HOLY LORD

BENEDICT XIV

ANGELUS MARIA, OF THE TITLE OF SAINT MARK

CARDINAL PRIEST QUIRINI

It is not rare, MOST BLESSED FATHER, for those who in these times dedicate their literary labors to Your Most Holy Name, to bring forth the most distinguished virtues of Pope Nicholas V—who was first the prelate of Your illustrious Homeland, and later designated by the title Cardinal of Bologna—and to adorn them with such praises, not indeed to set them before You for imitation, but to confirm that the inheritance of the same glory pertains to You by the greatest right; especially when they extol with their praises the excellent zeal with which He cultivated and fostered letters and learned men. In treading this path, I myself, as I believe, have set my footsteps first, while in two letters addressed to YOUR HOLINESS about two years ago—published first separately, and later prefixed to the Decade of my Brescian Letters—I affirmed that Nicholas V has been revived in You, most especially through that patronage of the best arts and their cultivators.

Indeed, with his customary erudition, the Prelate of this Roman Curia has dealt with this very subject in the Commentary on the Life and Deeds of the same Pope, published in recent months and dedicated to You.