P R E F A C E

...reminder of perpetual praise might be erected, a golden column of his own name and his merits, to endure to the last ages of the world. But whither does emotion carry me? It is a common and well-known adage that there is no need for a hanging ivy branch for wine that sells itself; and Virtue itself has enough of a reward. It is therefore better to pass over this man’s outstanding praises in silence than to wish to speak a few words about them, as the most wise Roman historian’s pronouncement regarding the praises of glorious Carthage holds. Indeed:

You meanwhile, Kind Reader, receive this small work of a golden book with a serene brow, which has been redacted from the great volume of the Great Desiderius Erasmus (which deservedly, along with the Venusian poet, you might call a work wondrous to behold and carved by the nine Muses) into an epitome of a compendium, and especially accommodated for your use; and if you are a lover of purity, you will judge it most worthy of all, that above other editions you commend it to yourself περὶ τοῦ κρείττονος κόμματος as the better sort/choice; and having commended it, you might frequently revolve it in your mind with studious reading.