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To the Reverend / Honorable / and Learned

Master George Schwalbenbergk / Cantor and Canon of the Cathedral of St. Peter in Fritzlar in Hesse, my most gracious master and

Reverend, Honorable, and Learned most gracious Master and Friend, the ancients before our time have written that one should not provide or write down for the sake of instruction any clear, specific explanations or indications to understanding and highly experienced men, for they have already learned and fathomed such things through lengthy experiens experience, effort, and expense, whereas those who are not yet practiced or experienced in any matter, much less the majority, would not find them intelligible.