19] 



that Bracciolini should enter into retirement and forge 

 an introduction to the " History " of Tacitus, for which 

 work he would be paid 500 gold sequins, equivalent to 

 upwards of ;i 0,000. Niccoli strongly urged his friend 

 to accept the offer, and Bracciolini, in reply, u thinks he 

 will follow his advice ;" but the venture was such a 

 daring one that 500 sequins appeared to him insuffi- 

 cient ; so he wrote again to Niccoli about this " sugges- 

 tion" and "offer" made by Lamberteschi, who, he 

 states, " will endeavour to procure for me in three years 

 500 gold sequins. If he will make it 600, 1 will at once 

 close with his proposal. He holds forth sanguine hopes 

 about several future profitable contingencies, which, I 

 am inclined to believe, may probably be realised ; yet it 

 is more prudent to covenant for something certain than 



to depend on hope alone I like the occupation to 



which he has invited me, and hope I shall be able to 

 produce something worth reading ; but for this purpose, 

 as I tell him in my letters, I require the retirement and 

 leisure that are necessary for literary work." An arrange- 

 ment was eventually arrived at, and it was definitely 

 settled that Bracciolini should leave England and go to 

 Hungary, in which country it was popularly believed 

 were to be found lost literary treasures. Still, Bracciolini 

 had his doubts about the due payment of the money, 

 and, as he was about to give up a living in England, he 

 was anxious to have some security for the money pro- 

 mised by Lamberteschi, for we find him writing to 

 Niccoli as follows : "You know well how I prefer liberty 

 and literary leisure to the other things which the vast 

 majority hold in the highest estimation and make the 



objects of their ambition If I were to see that I 



should get that which our friend Piero expects, I would 

 go not only to the end of Europe, but as far as the wilds 

 of Tartary, especially as I should have the opportunity 

 of paying attention to Greek literature, which it is my 

 desire to devour with avidity, were it but to avoid those 

 wretched translations, which so torment me that there is 

 more pain in reading than pleasure in acquiring know- 

 ledge." He then wrote : " If I undertake a journey to 

 Hungary, it will be unknown to everybody but a few, 

 and down the throats of these I shall cram all sorts of 



