Woodcut headpiece featuring symmetrical foliate scrollwork and a central human face or grotesque mask.

To the Most Illustrious Lord and Most Respected Patron

THE SIGNOR

ANTONIO MARIA

ORSATO.

Ornate woodcut initial letter 'L' decorated with foliage and branches.

The work which I dedicate to Your Most
Illustrious Lordship is, by the fame of the Author
who composed it, so manifest to the world
that it does not need praises in order for it to be
more welcome to the virtuous, and esteemed by
those who understand the profession of which it
treats. You, who are young in years but mature
in wisdom, lead all the lines of your every honest
thought and honorable operation to the sole center of
virtue and glory; you should highly appreciate this
object, as it is something that pleases you greatly,
and from which you ought one day to have the
possession, in such a way that it may...