Significant ink bleed-through from the reverse side of this page obscures most of the text. Only the header, the final lines of the address, and the closing date remain legible.

TO THE STUDENTS OF ALCHEMY.

...[may God] grant [the secrets] of this most excellent science to certain pious men, so that the poor of His holy Church may be helped by it, for the glory of God the Father and of our Lord JESUS CHRIST, for the building up of the holy catholic and Apostolic Church, and for the confusion of every Antichrist In the religious tension of 1561, this term was often used by both Catholic and Protestant writers to describe their theological opponents or the perceived enemies of true faith. and his members. For these ends, I am prepared by the grace of God to give not only all my writings and resources, but life itself.

Fare well, and remember me. Do not spare your just labors, for you know that great things are not achieved without great labor, whether intensive, extensive, or both together This phrasing uses Scholastic terminology to describe the quality of effort: "intensive" refers to the depth or focus of the work, while "extensive" refers to the duration or amount of work performed..

At Basel, in the year from the birth of Christ