he left his children and his grandchildren as heirs to all this treasure Ficino refers to the "treasure" of wisdom and virtuous friends mentioned on the previous page., so that it happens that I see and recognize in my Giuliano that same old man upon whom, after God alone, my entire well-being depended. For this reason, there is no one whose health and success I desire more than Giuliano’s, and for this I devoutly pray to God every day. And so that I might more clearly declare to you my desire and the affectionate love I bear toward you, I have decided to dedicate to you the first book of the letters I have written to my friends, as you are the greatest friend I have—the King, as it were, of all my other friends. I do this so that all my friends may ultimately be gathered into one most singular friend; and so that in reading these letters, every time you see me greeting someone, you may think that Marsilio is greeting Messer Giuliano.

TO THE REVEREND MASTER MARSILIO

FICINO, THE PLATONIST.

I arrived yesterday at the Villa of Careggi The Medici family's villa in the hills north of Florence, which Cosimo provided to Ficino to facilitate his translations of Plato., not for the sake of cultivating the fields, but rather to cultivate the soul. So, my dear Master Marsilio, I beg you to come stay with us as soon as you can, and bring with you that book of our Plato which treats the "highest good" This likely refers to the Philebus, one of the first dialogues Ficino translated for Cosimo.: which I believe you have by now translated there from the Greek language into Latin, as you promised me. For I want you to know that there is nothing I desire more ardently than to know which path leads us and conducts us to happiness. Stay well, and come—but do not come without the Lyre. Ficino was famous for his "Orphic" singing, using a lyre to perform hymns as a form of musical therapy to balance the soul's humors.