Theater of Machines, Volume 4

Many-

fold praise
of the mathe-
matical
arts.

Since I have recently, for the sake of the publisher original: "hujus operis" (of this work), my especially gracious good friend, and also for the benefit and special advantage of all diligent lovers of the mathematical and mechanical arts who are inexperienced in foreign languages, translated several fine and ingenious mechanical inventiones inventions from Italian and French into our German language—some of which have appeared before, some of which appear herewith in this quarta parte machinarum fourth part of the machines, and some of which, God willing, are to be gradually communicated and shared through the press in the future—it has seemed good to me to indicate a few things to the reader at the outset concerning these aforementioned laudable arts. Although the dignity, usefulness, pleasure, and necessity of the aforementioned arts are so manifold and great that they would require a separate book to describe and explain them as necessary, the old, highly-understanding artists and philosophi philosophers have nevertheless collectively grasped and summarized such praise, as it were, in a small bundle.