Epistle Dedicatory 



To the most illustrious Prince of Wales, 

 Edward, son and heir of the most serene 

 and mighty Henry VIII, King of Eng- 

 land, France and Ireland, William Turner 

 wishes long life and health. 



EXCEEDING wise, and if I understand aright, 

 necessary above all things, most illustrious 

 Prince, was the warning of the royal prophet, in which 

 he admonished kings, princes, and judges of the earth 

 that they should have understanding and seek learn- 

 ing. For, as that architect supreme of the universe, 

 God most good and great, placed the head above all 

 the remaining parts of the body in man, who in him- 

 self shews forth the image of a most perfect State, 

 and stored up in it all the five senses at once, that it 

 should see, hear, taste, and smell for all the remaining 

 members (to which touch alone has been allowed), 

 and should consult for their well-being; so he hath 

 set the Prince, as it were a head, over the State, 

 a body welded together of many members, that he 

 should provide for the advantage and well-being of 

 the whole State by his wisdom, learning and senses, 

 not so much external as internal. No one demands 

 sight in the feet, hearing in the legs, smell 1 in the 

 hands, or smell in the arms ; but all these things are 

 necessary in the head. 



1 This should probably be " taste " (gustum). 



