Theology of Aristotle

To the most blessed and most pious Pontiff, Leo X, most august Prince, Franciscus Roseus of Ravenna, [wishes] happiness.

When, three years ago, most holy Pontiff, I was residing in Damascus, as a constant cultivator of good letters, I devoted all my effort with great zeal, sparing no expenses or labors, so that I might enter the famous library of the city (accompanied by a friend somewhat imbued with the Arabic language for reading the inscriptions well enough), to explore the countless and beautiful codices stored there. Among these, one very ancient [codex] occurred to me, marked: Theology of Aristotle, or Mystical Philosophy, which, since I had heard that it had been composed by Aristotle and was lost and sought after, the impulse immediately occurred to me to acquire the work, considering how great its estimation would be among all philosophers and theologians, especially in this century in which Aristotle himself exists as the most famous of all and the master of all wise men. Whence, not without significant expense—having again paid the price and [resorted to] clandestine works—I betook myself with my vow fulfilled more quickly to Cyprus, where, since I despaired of finding a man in Italy skilled in the literature of the work, or certainly [skilled in the language], Moses Rouas, a physician and a philosopher most skilled in the Arabic language, was consulted; and because he approved of the book, having been asked not without cost, and having been given a fee by me, he translated it into such Italian as he knew, which was common. But truly, maturely and faithfully, with all things [done] and individual words rendered equally, I [then] entrusted it to be reviewed by the distinguished philosopher and physician Petrus Nicolaus ex Castellaniis Faventinus: a man of singular wisdom, but much experienced in the Academy and very versatile in the Peripatetic [tradition], who, having read the work through with veneration and accuracy, praised it incessantly, and [advised] that it should be arranged opportunely and reduced into Roman speech...