M. Vitruvii Pollionis ... De architectura libri. X. ad Augustum Caesarem accuratissime conscripti, & locis quamplurimis hac editione emendati

Georgius Machaero, pious printer, to the candid reader.

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ALTHOUGH AMONG ANCIENT writers one is more worthy of praise than another, yet since there is no one who does not deserve to be read, none of them, especially in such scarcity, seems to be neglected. Nor do I think this should be granted solely to antiquity: but because no one in those better ages dared to come into public view who did not bring some usefulness with his labor; the same must also be felt about the subjects in which they were engaged. For they were not accustomed to undertake the treatment of any matters except those which were worth the effort to understand. And yet we see that some of the ancients, even those of the best note, are either completely despised or lie hidden in the libraries of a few: and are never touched by the greater part of students. In that number is this M. Vitruvius, whose work on Architecture, although all admit it is excellent and worthy of being read above all others, is nevertheless passed over by almost everyone. The name itself is indeed famous: and there are very few, even among the moderately learned, who are unaware that Vitruvius wrote on Architecture. Yet hardly one in a hundred knows what the book contains. This does not happen because the author is bad or inept, or because the type of subject is useless to know: but because those who pursue the study of letters today are too delicate. For they choose either lighter writings or more pleasant ones, from which they can take delight without great labor. Therefore, because this book of Vitruvius is believed to be somewhat obscure, they mostly recoil from reading it because of the difficulty. For they cannot reject the author himself as being less than suitable. First, he lived and published this work in an age when true and solid erudition flourished, or at least was still vigorous. And he has always been held by learned men, to whom the authority of judging is granted by the common consent of all, to be a good and not vulgar author of value. It must certainly be admitted, as the matter itself declares, that he does not have a diction that is very well polished (for he speaks Latin more than elegantly or eloquently): but let us remember that he did not leave this work so that we might learn eloquence from it. He himself also excuses in many places the fact that he has a less refined style: and he asks to be granted the indulgence that it is fair to concede to an architect.