Three Books on Gold

...and many other most noble youths were serving. If I were to wish to recount one by one how many kinds of dishes, what and how great were the ornaments prepared by the most skilled in that art, what precious wines, what fruits, what confections, in what order they were arranged, and with what pomp they were organized, my oration would be too long, and I would not be considered free from the sycophancy of some of the great men of the world. Yet this vice has always been far from me. Therefore, I shall wrap these things in silence and return to where I digressed. For so many and such great singular benefits conferred upon me, what thanks should I, a small man, return? What shall I offer in return? I do not have the treasures of the Arabs, nor gems, nor gold, nor cities—things of which you have no need, since in the magnitude of your wealth you are second to none. What am I to do? Behold, I offer you a work whose title is De Auro [On Gold], a truly golden work, which formerly Giovanni Francesco Pico, Count of Mirandola and Concordia, compiled and dedicated to his wife; a man indeed most erudite and easily the prince of that time in every kind of learning and science. This work, after Pico had succumbed to nature, the illustrious Lady Julia, his daughter and former wife of the illustrious Sigismondo Malatesti, entrusted to me some years later to be read through. When she herself passed from life, it happened to be left with me. I, indeed, knowing that I was not the legitimate heir, and clearly perceiving what great utility, use, and pleasure it would bring—both by the elegance of its words and the gravity of its thoughts—if it were to come into the sight of men, I began to think lest it lie in darkness any longer. Therefore, consulting for the public utility and for the reputation of so great a man, I saw to it that it was printed; and I did so the more willingly because I feared that if, after the course of my life, it should happen to fall into the hands of some envious person, he might falsely and impudently ascribe it to himself and arrogate it, and it would be all over with the labors and vigils of so great and so renowned a man. Therefore, although I was distracted by many tasks, I willingly spent that time which was given to me in reviewing and correcting it. For it was swarming with very many errors, as much from the part of the scribe while the author was dictating the work, as from the lack of due care applied to its preservation. Many pages were moved from their proper place, and many...