Short Art

principles and rules for investigating the truth: for through one letter having many meanings, the intellect is more general for receiving many meanings and also for creating knowledge. And it is necessary to know this alphabet by heart. Otherwise, the artist will not be able to use this art well. B signifies divine goodness, whether of God, justice, and avarice. C signifies greatness, concordance, prudence, and gluttony. D signifies eternity or duration, contrariety, of which is the heaven, fortitude, and luxury. E signifies power, beginning, man, temperance, and pride. F signifies wisdom, the middle, how much, imagination, faith, and sloth. G signifies will, the end, what is sensitive, hope, and envy. H signifies virtue, greatness, when, vegetation, charity, and anger. I signifies truth, equality, where, elemental, patience, and falsehood. K signifies glory, minority, how, and with what, instrumentality, piety, and inconstancy.

¶ Concerning the 2nd part, which is about the figures, and first about the first.

This part is divided into four parts, namely into four figures. The first figure is of A. This figure contains within itself nine principles, namely goodness, greatness, etc., and nine letters, namely B, C, D, E, etc. This figure is circular because the subject is changed into the predicate and vice versa, as when one says: goodness is great, and greatness is good, and so on with the others. In it