TO THE READER

It is not indeed equitable that anyone who has spent much on his education should be defrauded of his own benefit. But since there are many for whom the art cost nothing, or for whom a buyer cannot be found due to an excessively high price, what benefit do they expect? Or is it really so little to enjoy the fame of being well-deserving of the public? If you value your formulas so highly that no one can provide an equivalent, why not give them away for free, imitating the example of the painter Zeuxis? Those who abound in treasures could have liberated the equipment from those who hide it, and by their own benefit made them public law, and they would have obtained an immortal name. But usually, trifles are highly esteemed by the very poor. They would fare more happily if they aspired to progress from a small beginning. Since there is such an abundance of stipends and the proceeds of public begging, from the remnants of alms one could have collected as much as was sufficient for the beginning of the art, especially if it is fruitful with hope. I would wish finally to ask those to whom these letters are addressed not to think their names are proposed here in the same way that charlatans are accustomed to display their placards at fairs. I have always been studious of the honor of good men. I still wish it to remain whole and intact. My epistolary method is as far from the consultations of the Paracelsians and letters extorted by fraud, or published against the will of the authors, as honesty is from fraud and deceit, and liberality from baseness. Therefore, I do not present myself as a doctor and master,