This book, as Cyprianus Guidus writes in his dedication to Giovanni Battista Castrucci of Lucca, cardinal, had formerly, through carelessness in printing and a fault of the press, been everywhere so stuffed and filled with grave faults and errors - which not only distorted the true and Catholic sense and the genuine meaning, but, what is worse, very easily led less cautious and prudent readers into manifestly false opinions - and also with…
…besides innumerable monstrosities and faults even in its spelling, so that it truly would be necessary either to consign the book, printed as it was, to be entirely consumed by fire, or else to apply anew, by day and night, every diligence, every care, and every exertion, sparing no labor and no inconvenience, so that it might nowhere again be offered in so uncorrected and erroneous a state.
Considering within myself, therefore, on the one hand, the natural and intrinsic benefit of a work of this kind, and its usefulness both for the spirit and for the intellect - a usefulness which, as though from a most limpid and abundant spring, could easily flow from it to pious readers, for the common benefit and advantage of all Catholics, if it were properly corrected and again delivered to the press for printing - although I was distracted and entangled on every side by the weightiest and continual occupations, nevertheless, as if by stealth, I took away so much time from my own nightly rest that, applying every diligence, casting aside every impediment and sluggishness, and employing all the powers both of mind and body, I finally applied and wholly devoted myself to purging this book of the innumerable and almost infinite faults and errors with which it bristled everywhere. I did so to such a degree that now, with God favoring the undertaking, it will be possible for everyone to read it without any danger of stumbling anywhere or of falling into any error or doubt - provided that, as has very often been accustomed to happen, especially in this city, through the execrable greed and very great negligence of printers, there does not once again vanish all the labor, industry, study, and vigilance so earnestly undertaken and assumed by me.
Then, turning myself again to another consideration no less fitting than necessary - namely, that I should not permit a book so well corrected to be printed again without some particular and very great protector and leader, as is customary - and also not forgetting how greatly the Eminence of Your Most Illustrious Lordship has always deserved well of the servants devoted to it, and what benefits it has bestowed upon them up to the present, under what leader and protector could I ever have brought it forth more suitably, and by whom could it have been defended and protected more powerfully against detractors, the envious, and the malevolent, than under that most illustrious prince who draws his distinguished origin from a most eminent and never sufficiently commended lineage and family: a family which has always been the protectress and defender of the wretched and of men unjustly oppressed; which once, by so abundant an outpouring of noble blood, defended its own fatherland and the public liberty, and extended and enlarged all its dominion, patrimony, and boundaries far and wide; which, moreover, guarded the honor, chastity, and reputation of innumerable abducted maidens against their savage abductors and drove out cruel and fierce tyrants; and which, finally - lest by a longer account I offend the modesty of your ears - in time of peace, by incredible prudence and counsel, preserved itself and other families safe, unharmed, free, and glorious?
Recognizing inwardly, exactly and perfectly, from long experience and many trials, that Your Lordship has become a true imitator of the leading men of this most illustrious family, burning in soul with ardent zeal and shining in a body clothed in purple with purity like a blazing seraph, the Supreme Pontiff also distinguished you outwardly and sealed you with the red galero - not in order to close up, but to disclose and make openly known to everyone what, among all mortals, had been inwardly manifest to him alone. He did this to the incredible, very great, and perfect joy and exultation not only of our entire commonwealth, truly and perpetually free, but also of the whole Christian name and jurisdiction.
This ineffable and universal joy is certainly seen to be very unlike every other joy with which people are ordinarily affected on any great and happy occasion of new events, since such joy always vanishes together with the novelty itself. This joy, however - as everyone marvels - has grown so greatly up to the present and grows from day to day that all the more prudent and powerful persons, together with the entire people, await Your Eminence until you shall have advanced in age and the time shall have come; and they earnestly desire and long with all their prayers that you will bring the final completion to the exultation already conceived, not only for the Italian nation, as occurred in the case of your ancestors, but also wherever the Christian name is heard and resounds, with the firm and undoubted hope that everyone will have to say, Plus ultra - “Further beyond.”
But lest perhaps I should seem to have wished to digress from a dedicatory letter into praises of the most illustrious House of the Castrucci - a task which, I truly confess, has not been granted to me, although I am moved toward it by the most ardent desire and love, nor indeed is this the proper place to pursue it - I shall therefore put the finishing hand to this letter, but only after I have earnestly and humbly begged Your Most Illustrious Lordship to receive, with a cheerful, willing, and grateful mind, this poor and very small beginning, which I offer to you as part payment of my infinite debt toward you, for I am not otherwise capable of paying it. When this offering is joined and considered together with the great and grateful willingness of the one making payment and with the authority of the mediator and intermediary, it is by no means to be rejected.
In this matter also I pray and beseech Your Most Illustrious Lordship that you not disdain to imitate the Supreme Giver of the universe, who does not scrutinize and accept the quality or any other condition of the gift offered, but instead has always been accustomed to behold, contemplate, and receive the mind and heart of the giver himself.
May you fare well. Venice, 1586, in the convent of Saints John and Paul.
To Your Most Illustrious Lordship,
your most devoted and humble servant,
Brother Cyprianus Guidus of Lucca, O.P.