Notice for the books on Instruments.

Many words that are not strictly Latin are found in the description of the Instruments. Many terms occur in their construction, their use, and in songs that do not exist in either Latin or Greek. Furthermore, I have seen no one who has preceded me in this task, except perhaps Ottomarus Luscinius, who published almost nothing but bare illustrations of instruments in 1542. original: "Luscinium Ottomarum". Luscinius was a humanist and musician whose work "Musurgia" provided early descriptions of instruments. There is also Michael Praetorius, who is said to have satisfied his purpose regarding the illustrations of instruments in the second volume of his Musical Syntagma. I have not been able to see that work, however. I have only read through the first volume, published in 1614, if I understand his numbering correctly.

Furthermore, the marble figure of Orpheus in the garden of the Most Illustrious Prince of Condé, located in the suburbs of St. Germain, is arranged differently. He does not use a plectrum A small flat tool used to pluck strings, like a guitar pick. as our figure does at the end of this work. Instead, he uses a bow and smaller strings, that is, a Violin, or a Viola, which the Italians call di braccio original: "di braccio", meaning "of the arm," distinguishing it from instruments held between the legs.. Without a doubt, this instrument surpasses the others by such a difference that, when compared to it, they seem to vanish like shadows. This is especially true when the incomparable string players Barthélemy Bargue, Bocan, Foucard, or Constantin play it. I follow with the remaining stringed instruments in the first book, wind instruments in the second and third, and those that are struck in the fourth. I frequently describe the various terms of the lutenists and other craftsmen in both French and Latin together, so that they may provide mutual clarity to each other. It should be noted that those parts which might seem more obscure in propositions 11, 12, 14, 17, and 21, due to the less beautiful and poorly arranged characters in the diagrams of the Lute and Spanish Guitar, can be sought from the French books. In those, everything is seen to be more beautiful, easier, and clearer. Mersenne refers to his own French work, "Harmonie Universelle", which featured higher quality printing for certain illustrations.

Note further that I have used the word æs Usually meaning bronze or brass in this context. to signify brass mixed with calamine, commonly called Laton, or airain, and yellow copper original: "cuivre jaune". Otherwise, I use it to mean orichalcum. For us, cuprum refers to pure copper, commonly called Rosette, or pure copper original: "franc cuivre". We call the calamine stone cadmia. See the second part of Savot's work, chapters 13, 14, and 15, where he discusses various types of calamine, as well as zinc oxide, calaem, pompholyx, and tutty. Jean Savot was a royal physician and expert on coinage and metallurgy. Mersenne uses these technical terms to describe the chemical compositions of the metals used in instrument making. Therefore, the metal is tinted with caluminous earth, or "metal crocus," and made yellow, but it becomes heavier by a fourth or fifth part of itself. Georgius Agricola writes extensively on these matters in the ninth book of On the Nature of Metals. original: "De re Metallica". Agricola's 1556 text was the standard Renaissance authority on mining and metallurgy.

But whoever wishes to know more about the various mixtures of gold with silver or copper, which are commonly made in France, Spain, and other places, should read the second part of the very accurate Savot, which he wrote in French on ancient coins, especially from chapters 6 to 13. Here I add only that the purity of gold is usually divided into 24 degrees or carats original: "καράτια" (karatia). Silver is divided into 12 deniers, so that its quality may be tested down to the 768th part of the proposed gold. They subdivide each degree into 32 small parts, just as they divide a denier of silver into 24 parts, or grains, which they call the "law." Thus, a single part of silver out of 288 is tested by the French. On line 34, read drachmas instead of scrupulos, and observe at the same time that the drachma of our physicians and pharmacists usually consists of three scruples, and each scruple of 20 grains. However, the merchant's scruple contains 24 grains, as the same Savot taught in the third part, chapter 57. From this, it happens that their pound, consisting of 12 ounces, corresponds to only 10 of the merchant ounces. Thus, the merchant's pound creates a Minor Sixth ratio, that is 8 to 5, with the Physician's pound. An ounce creates a Minor Third ratio, 6 to 5. Furthermore, he assigns 6048 grains to the ancient Roman pound, which is therefore far surpassed by our merchant pound, which consists of 9216 grains. Yet it surpasses the Medical pound, to which it is as 21 to 20. He adds that the ancient measure-pound contains only ten ounces of the weight-pound, concerning which see chapter 38 and following.

ROYAL DIPLOMA.

By the Royal Privilege of Louis XIII, it is cautioned that no one may reprint the Harmonic books of Brother Marin Mersenne of the Order of St. Francis of Paola, or cause them to be reprinted, for a period of six years following the time of edition. This is under penalty of confiscation of all copies that can be found, and furthermore a fine of 1200 pounds, as is more broadly explained in the Diploma itself. Given at Paris on the 13th day of October in the year 1629.

I have yielded the use of the preceding Diploma to Guillaume Baudry, Printer, on the 7th day of September in the year 1635.

GENERAL LICENSE.

Brother Franciscus à Longobardis, Corrector General of the Order of Minims: To our beloved in Christ, Father Brother Marin Mersenne, Theologian and Preacher of the same Order, greetings, etc. Wishing to grant your petitions, by the tenor of these presents we give you the faculty of committing to the press some volumes titled Books of Harmonics, both in Latin and in French. This is provided they are first examined and approved by two Theologians of our Order, to be named by the Reverend Father Provincial of the Province of France, and that the remaining requirements according to the decree of the holy Council of Trent are observed. In witness of which, this was given in our Convent of Blessed Mary of the Victories in the city of Sanlúcar, on the 28th day of February in the year 1634.

APPROVAL OF THE CENSORS.

We, the undersigned Theologians of the Order of Minims, have seen and approved the Harmonics of Brother Marin Mersenne, Theologian of the same Order, and have signed in witness at our Convent in Paris, on the 23rd day of October in the year 1629.