De betoverde weereld ... in vier boeken

the matter was handed over; so that I expanded the work once more, and arranged it in a different order; to the extent that what was scarcely a booklet has grown into a full-scale book. Meanwhile, the printing in Leeuwarden a city in the northern Netherlands proceeded not only too slowly for me: but also too burdensomely to undertake the correction of the printing errors, which had already crept too much into the first part: for with the beginning of the second part here in Amsterdam, where some time also passed before it got underway; however, for the aforementioned reason, it proceeded according to my wish. In the meantime, others knew how long the work remained behind; and some thought (stating it quite plainly and loudly) that my courage had sunk into my heels an idiom for losing one's nerve to take the field against the Duÿvel Devil. Therefore, and because of the constant asking and writing as to when my book would finally come to light, I gave the first two books to some Leeuwarder from the city of Leeuwarden booksellers, who assured me that then my work would undoubtedly be followed by further reflections from the reading of this work. Expecting here to finish this work for the booksellers; also to finish it for the convenience of the booksellers; because the sudden onset of winter then hindered that plan, leading to an unhelpful inconvenience. For before the last three sheets could go from here to Leeuwarden, the shipping was completely blocked by the ice; and I, with some friends, had to deliver a few copies that were complete; where however my book, which I had even published without my knowledge in this unfinished state, and subsequently had read through the whole work, and spent some time on it, so that I could not well get away from there. Now those who had been shown it by some with haste, which had been given to them in the book in Frieslandt Friesland, a province in the Netherlands, all took my book out of my hand, so they gave them away in haste, to friends who took these from my hand at the time that I had them, who received the report of the twenty-six pieces in all, before and after, from Leeuwarden, and I could hardly give one for myself. For all the booksellers had the work. And all the books were also about my objective and the reason that brought me to this writing; of which I speak most clearly in this preface and the first chapter; whether of the extreme necessity and usefulness, in the first, and the second to last chapter.

The pieces were briefly proven. And these are the pieces that they did not yet have when they read the rest. Therefore, to set aside the preceding dissatisfaction through my foresight; I wrote to the Leeuwarder bookseller that I forbade him to sell a single copy more, as long as the book was not yet complete. Meanwhile, observing that the water remained closed: I added two more chapters to the end of the second part of the Preface: to better inform the reader what my actual opinion and my pure objective were. Such have also those (according to what has occurred to me) who first read the Preface, and thereafter subsequently the whole work, seen most clearly; and thankfully understood the necessity. Those who spoke poorly of it did not have it, but it was also not with me, long after the time that the last printed sheets were sent from here to Leeuwarden, and thus the book was fully in the hands of H. Nauta the printer. A book that had been written for him in pieces; and which I brought to light, pulled from the dust of books, and I have given him a work in itself of the past three years that was set on one thing or another; and cited outside of these, to explain this my reasoning to the Reader, had written for him in pieces; and which I expect to write; yet have not received. What do I do in the meantime?

Nitimur in vetitum, semper cupimusque negata. We strive for the forbidden, and always desire what is denied original Latin: "Nitimur in vetitum, semper cupimusque negata," a quote from Ovid's Amores.

For the book was first for sale here on the 11th of the Lenten maant the month of Lent, or March, 1680, long after the time that the last printed sheets were sent from here to Leeuwarden, and thus the book was entirely complete in the hands of H. Nauta. A book that had been written for him in pieces; and which I expect from the Bookseller to write from here; yet have not received. What do I do in the meantime?

Two asterisks serve as a decorative end-of-section mark.