TO THE MOST NOBLE MARCUS VELSERUS, COUNCILLOR TO THE EMPEROR, DUUMVIR AND PREFECT OF THE REPUBLIC OF AUGSBURG, ANDREAS SCHOTTUS OF ANTWERP, OF THE SOCIETY OF JESUS, DEDICATES THIS WORK AS A GIFT OF MERIT.
A If it did not shame the blessed presbyter Jerome, that great pillar of the Church militant on earth, O Duumvir Marcus, to weave a catalog of ecclesiastical writers, drawing from Eusebius of Caesarea and the writings of each, why should I be ashamed or regret the immense labor and fatigue constantly absorbed in the translation of Photius's *Bibliotheca*, which I willingly dedicate and consecrate to you? I cannot yet discern such a thing. That man, having begun his thread of discourse from the very inception of the nascent Church and fetching it from the highest origins, produced a series of the Church's sacred writers down to his own time, so that posterity might distinguish the legitimate and pure from the spuriously written, and the wheat from the chaff. Afterwards, thinking it a glorious and publicly useful labor for the authors of various nations to be continuously woven together, each man wrote catalogs of the writers of his own nation. In Iberia, indeed, the most holy men Isidore and Ildefonsus; in Gaul, Gennadius of Marseille and Honorius of Augustodunum; in our Belgium, Sigebert of Gembloux; and in Germany, lately the abbot Trithemius, having scoured all the corners of every library, accomplished this. In Greece, however, Photius, perhaps equal to those early writers as much in erudition as in age, compiled this *Bibliotheca* of both sacred and profane books, which, at the request of his brother Tarasius, he reviewed while he was serving as orator of the Constantinopolitan emperor in Syria, and this he did before—as anyone will judge with me from the work itself—he was corrupted by and precipitated into courtly ambition. B Yet this labor of Photius proved more useful than that of the others in the West after Jerome, insomuch that the volume grew far larger than all the others combined; for he does not merely review the writings of the ancients he happened upon, but he transcribed very many selections or excerpts from them, word for word, far from being content with mere enumeration. Perhaps he foresaw in his mind and presaged that, by the injury of time, most works would, as happens, utterly perish and be lost, the names of which—let alone the monuments of their genius—would certainly not have reached our age without Photius.
This work, or rather treasury, long desired and sought after at great length and in vain, I finally obtained at Rome, having begun to estimate it—like a lion by its claw—when Proclus's *Chrestomathia* was rendered into Latin by me at Tarragona. For the most illustrious Ascanius Columna, an ornament of the purple-clad fathers, whom I gladly name for the sake of honor, permitted me to have it copied at my own discretion. But after the Augsburg printer had published it with elegant types, having diligently compared it to the reliability of various copies, my friends—to whom I owe much and wish well—demanded with almost reproachful insistence that I strive with all my might to present this treasury of erudition to the Latin tongue, so that its utility might reach a greater number. I yielded, therefore, overcome by the prayers of my friends, and having engaged in a work full of dangerous peril, I finally brought it to a conclusion, God supplying the strength and spirit, with constancy. Let the judgment of whoever I have emulated—certainly yours, most learned sir, and that of the not-unskilled reader—be the final verdict. But is there anything more? Indeed. Furthermore, I implore from you above all, for just reasons, the patronage of this work, which is truly Herculean in the custom and institution of our ancestors. C For since it was among you that Photius first saw the light of the Greek edition, I deemed it right and fitting that the Latin translation be subjoined, especially since the name of the Augsburg library invited it—which library of the Vindelicians, a city truly worthy of the name Augusta, has snatched me away and held me in admiration of itself, particularly on account of both the abundance and the antiquity of the books written by hand on parchment, even though other things might move other men to gaze upon the elegance of the city and its citizens.
To the ornamentation of which, indeed, your republic, not content with having disseminated throughout Europe the catalog of the copies it possesses, also invites learned men with unusual and truly singular kindness so that, by comparing those very books with one another and setting them as it were like a pair of gladiators, they may bring them into the light and view of men for the public good. Would that dynasts and kings might follow this example, setting their feet in the same footsteps, and allow the unpublished books of the holy Fathers to be known and disseminated; certainly they would recall the use of Greek letters in translation to a far greater extent, and those things which today lie hidden in dense darkness, feeding the moths, would no longer remain as if mute and silent. But it is easier to desire this than to hope for it, unless others like the Velsers should arise, who—most concordant brothers (for I address you, Anton, Matthaeus, and Paul, with your kind permission)—promote the literary cause far and wide, extend the borders of the disciplines, and never cease to provide aid in deed and counsel to the learned themselves, so that now, throughout the world, there might be nothing more pleasing to Phoebus than the page which the name of Velser has inscribed. D You, therefore, Marcus, I entreat and implore that you do not take it amiss to embrace our work with the kindness with which you began; and let this monument, such as it is, of my respect and mindful heart exist among posterity by your peace; a monument which, if it seems good, may find a place in your library, from which, along with so many others, it has proceeded in Greek, and may now also be found in Latin. But if any fruit comes to others from this vigil by reading, may a grateful posterity refer that study—which indeed, by casting the light of scholia upon obscure passages for the sake of interpretation, I have devoted to you, great friend—to your account. For you are accustomed to "provide gates that are not closed to wise men," as Vespasian Augustus asserted of himself in Philostratus, since you yourself are a kind of living library. Accept, therefore, willingly and gladly, the guardianship of my work and vigils against the calumnies of detractors. May the Calends of the coming year 1606 shine happily upon you, I pray, worshipping God. Antwerp.
PROLEGOMENA. MAXIMUS MARGUNIOS, HUMBLE BISHOP OF CYTHERA, TO THE LOVERS OF LETTERS, THAT THEY MAY ADVANCE IN GOOD WORKS.
A While some admire others among those skilled in wisdom—each according to the aptitude and power he possesses—let them weave the praises of this one or that, whether elevating the eloquence of their speech, or the flowering and elegant nature of their phrasing, or the gravity, absolute precision, and stability of their philosophy. But to me, that wisest and most sacred Photius has often seemed worthy of all praise besides the rest. Not only because, having been entrusted with the helms of the holy Church, he guided Christ’s rational flock into saving pastures and fed them with the most pious teachings, adornment of life, and righteousness; but also because, having pursued every branch of education, he surpassed all those of his time by a wide margin. His panegyrical B discourses, into which he infused such grace and sweetness that it is considered a formidable thing for those who encounter them to part with them in any way, bear witness to the abundance of his wisdom. Thus, he charms the souls of his hearers with the saving incantations of his own sirens, and compels the bait of persuasion to be born within them by that seductive power of beliefs. Such, too, are his marvelous epistles to various people. And who that has perused his work on the *Amphilochia* would not reasonably admire his readiness to resolve doubts—especially those that pertain to sacred philosophy and the divine Scriptures, in which something more mystical is deeply hidden—and his keenness and interpretative skill? Yet, this book now at hand will most clearly C demonstrate to those who choose to understand it both his precision in history, the diversity of his wisdom, and the skillfulness and extreme clarity with which he judges the works composed by others. To those occupied with rhetoric and secular philosophy, it provides a wealth of utility; and it provides such advantage to those who adhere firmly to the holy religion that it is like a land producing everything—abounding in various fruits and flowers, yet no less delighting and charming the sense of them who pluck them by their taste than it pleases and enchants them by their sight and scent. Receive this, therefore, with kindness, and accord many thanks to the wisest Schottus, who has this sole care ever in his studies: how something useful and beneficial D to the common body of the learned might be published, particularly this work. Fare well in Christ the Savior, in the year of salvation 1600, on the twenty-ninth of July.
JUDGMENTS OF SEVERAL LEARNED MEN CONCERNING PHOTIUS, PATRIARCH OF CONSTANTINOPLE
ZONARAS, *Annales*, Tom. III. He designates Photius as patriarch, a man who was then among the prominent protosyricris [chief secretaries], and most celebrated in his speech. *In his place he substituted Photius, a man of high standing, chief of the secretaries, and most celebrated by the name of his erudition.*
CEDRENUS. Bardas creates Photius, a man known for his wisdom, and at that time serving as protosyricris, as patriarch. *Bardas therefore creates Photius, a man famous for his wisdom and at that time chief of the secretaries, as patriarch.*
FRANCISCUS TURRIANUS, *Preface to the Apostolic Constitutions of Clement of Rome*. Photius of Constantinople, in his *Bibliotheca*—for that is how he calls the huge volume concerning the books read by him, etc. Photius, an author of incredible reading and sharp judgment. An author of most learned and incredible reading, etc. In that work especially, which he named the *Bibliotheca* of books read by him, he makes judgments concerning such a great multitude and variety of books with such accuracy, such sharp intellect, such carefulness, such learning, such clarity, and such freedom, that he does not appear to have omitted anything worthy of notice. But how serious is the weight in this judgment and of what authority the testimony of Photius is, it is permitted to understand and estimate, etc. Especially from the *Bibliotheca*—for so he inscribed it, as I said a little before—the huge volume on books of every kind read by himself, in which he sets out almost the argument, the genre of style, and the doctrine of each one.