De betoverde weereld ... in vier boeken

useless labor: in so far that he reads the entire work through from the beginning to the end, before he objects to anything against me, whether in writing or orally. This is to see whether the thing that might stop him or displease him, reading here and there, is not resolved in the thread of the work itself. For he would have to take the trouble I now ask of him anyway, to look up the places I would point out to him in the answer. Therefore, one must hold it to my credit if I give no answer to those who do not desire to do so; which would be useless anyway, and prevent us both from spending our time on better things.

Prepared for the press, further revised and enlarged
The 16th of the Month of Spring March 1691.
26 Blooming Month May
Harvest Month August

The Reader is assured that nothing has been omitted from this book that was in the Leeuwarden edition. However, in a few places, something has been inserted for the expansion of concise material: namely, as is noted here following. Besides that, I have added an entire Chapter at the end, in which the last part of the second Book of the Frisian edition is merged; which seemed necessary to me to set forth again here in expanded form, to point out more closely the use of the various opinions related in this first Book; and also to show the true ground upon which the prejudices rest, which have hindered us for so long from properly investigating the true nature of the matters that stand to be handled in the following parts.

Inserted:
Chapter VIII, §. 6 and 10 entirely.
Chapter X, §. 2 beginning in the second line, and then onward §. 3 and 4 entirely, while the fourth and fifth lines of the first edition are omitted there.
§. 7 beginning in the fifth line.
§. 8 beginning in the third line.
§. 9 beginning in the fourth line.
Chapter XXIV entirely.

NAKED PORTRAYAL

Of the entire contents of the four Books, the objective of the Writer, and the conduct used by him therein.

A decorative initial letter A marks the beginning of the text. Since the first two Books of this work, published beforehand, have endured very many sorts of judgments for reasons pointed out in the Preface: so it shall not be unhelpful to show the Reader clearly here in brief what it is that I have actually intended in these four Books, which I call The Enchanted World; on what ground I build, and by which path I seek the truth. For although I have spoken clearly and distinctly of everything, both in the entrance of the work and in the prefaces of the first part: I see nonetheless that it has not been enough here to remove the many heavy prejudices, to which not so much the common man, but rather the learned show themselves to be attached. Although I did not think so at first, I can now see the reason for it upon reflection. Namely, that those who devote themselves to learning solely out of a desire for wetenschap science/knowledge and the exercise of kunst art/skill are usually wise people who do not care from whom they learn, as long as they learn it well. They do not trouble themselves with the fashion, whether it be old or new, for they love only the soundness of the material and the skill of the work. But those who are in the shops merely to earn a living keep themselves more to the style that was maintained there: at one master’s shop the work was made thus, at another so; in one city they worked in this manner, in another in that. It is then enough for such a person that he shall make it as is the custom, and has also performed the trial for the masters according to that custom. But if one is found among them who, like the first group, also loves and investigates the art itself, and wants to improve something therein, such a one immediately catches the eye of the others. It is exactly the same with knowledge. Those who go to the schools become accustomed to the style that