DEDICATORY EPISTLE

...and I should describe some part of your praises, were it not that I fear I might be called a flatterer by the ignorant. All who know me are aware of how far I have always been from such a thing. To this point, my life and conversation have almost always been found not in the schools, books, and exercises of rhetoricians and orators, but in those of natural philosophers original: "Physicorum," those who study the physical world and physicians. Therefore, I most humbly entreat your most illustrious Lordship original: "D. T." for "Dominationi Tuae," your Lordship to accept the love and sincerity of my mind toward you, no less than this excellent work dedicated to your name. This is not because I think your most illustrious Lordship lacks such knowledge, although you may sometimes find delight and help in it. Rather, it is so that the work, going forth under the shield original: "clypeo," a metaphor for protection and prestige of your most celebrated name, may benefit many people. Because I will speak of this matter in the following preface to the readers, I will not detain your most illustrious Lordship any longer.

May Almighty and Most High God grant that I may at last find either your most illustrious Lordship, or an honorable patron original: "Maecenatem," referring to Gaius Maecenas, the famous Roman patron of the arts like you, through whom I might one day raise my head and benefit many mortals in various ways by the grace of God, as much as anyone else can. May the Lord God and heavenly Father, through Christ his Son, increase and protect your most illustrious Lordship with his gifts. Amen. Basel, on the Calends of