Most Serene, Most Powerful, and Invincible

Emperor, King, and Lord,

A decorative and ornate initial "W" opens the text.
Because human life is short and transitory, most people, and especially noble minds, strive to preserve or immortalize their memory among their descendants. Shortly after the Flood, it was said: "Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower whose top reaches to the heavens, that we may make a name for ourselves!" In the same way, many great kings and powerful potentates in the world have sought to immortalize their memory, partly through the building of respectable and excellent cities, the erection of glorious monuments, and...