Hese are my speciall and
singuler good Lorde whiche I
haue purposed to wryte as tou-
chyng the chief poynt of ye .iiii.
that I sayd in the begynnyng to long to a
Rhetoricien / & which is more difficulty thā
the other .iii. so that it ones had / there is no
very great maistry to com by the resydue.
Natwithstandynge yf I se that it be fyrste
acceptable to your good lordship / in whom
next god & his holy saintes I haue put my
chief cōfidence & trust / & after yt yf I fynde
that it seme to ye reders a thing worthy to
be loked on / & yt your lordshyp & they think
nat my labour takē in vayne: I wyll assay
my selfe in ye other partes / & so make & ac-
cōplyssh ye hole werk. But now I haue fo[-]
lowed ye facion of Tulli / who made a seue[-]
rall werke of inuencion. And though ma-
ny thynges be left out of this treatyse that
ought to be spoken of / yet I suppose that
this shall be sufficyent for an introduction
to yonge begynners / for whome all onely
this booke is made. For other that ben en-
tred all redy shall haue lytle nede of my la-
bour / but they may seke more meter thyn-
ges for theyr purpose / either in Hermogi-
nes amonge the Grekes / or els Tullie or
Trapesonce / amonge the Latines. And to
them that be yonge begynners nothynge
can be to playne or to short / wherfore Ho-
race ī his boke of ye craft of Poetry sayth.
Quicquid precipies esto breuis vt cito dicta
Percipiant animi dociles teneantq[ue] fideles.
What so euer ye wyll teache (sayeth he)
be briefe therin / that the myndes of the he-
rers or reders may the easiyer perceyue it /
and the better bere it away. And the Em-
perour Iustinian sayeth in the fyrste boke
of his institucions in the paragraph of iu-
stice and right / that ouer great curiosity in
the fyrst principles / make hym that is stu-
diouse of the facultie either to forsake it: or
els to attayne it with very great and tedy[-]
ouse labour / and many tymes with great
dispayre to com to the ende of his purpose.
And for this cause I haue ben farre lesse cu[-]
riouse than I wolde els haue ben / and also
a great dele the shorter. If this my labour
may please your lordeshyp / it is the thynge
that I do in it moost desyre / but yf it seme
bothe to you and other a thyng that is ve-
ry rude and skant worthe the lokynge on:
yet Aristotles wordes shal confort me / who
sayeth yt men be nat onely bounde to good
authors: but also to bad / bicause yt by their
wrytynge they haue prouoked cunnynger
men to take the mater on hande / whiche
wolde els peraduenture haue helde theyr
peace. Truely there is nothynge that I
wolde be more gladder of / than yf it might
chaunce me on this maner to cause theym
that be of moche better lernynge and excer[-]
cise in this arte than I / of whō I am very
sure that this realme hath greate plenty /
that they wold set the penne to the paper /
and by their industry obscure my rude igno[-]
raunce. In the meane space I beseche the
reders / yf they fynde any thynge therein
that may do them any profyte / that they
gyue the thankes to god and to your lord-
shyp / and that they wyll of theyr charitie
pray vnto the blessyd Trinite for me / that
whan it shall please the godhed to take
me from this transitory lyfe / I may
by his mercy be of the nombre of
his elect to p[er]petuall saluacion.
¶ Imprinted at London in Fletestrete
by saynte Dunstones chyrche / at the
sygne of the George / by me Ro-
bert Redman / The yere of our
lorde god a thousande / fyue
hundred and two and
thyrty.
