The Romance of Leonardo da Vinci, the Forerunner
Translated by Herbert Trench
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The opening
I
THE WHITE SHE-DEVIL—1494
‘At Siena was discovered another statue of Venus, to the huge joy of the inhabitants. A great concourse, with much feasting and honour, set it up over the fountain called “Il Fonte Gaja,” as an adornment....
‘But great tribulation having come upon the land by reason of the Florentines, there arose one of the council, a citizen, and spake in this wise: “Fellow-citizens, since the finding of this figure we have had much evil hap, and if we consider how strictly idolatry is prohibited by our faith, what shall we think but that God hath sent us this adversity by reason of sin? I advise that we remove this image from the public square of the city, deface it, break it in pieces, and send it to be buried in the territory of the Florentines.”
‘All agreeing with this opinion, they confirmed it by a decree; and the thing was put into execution, and the statue was buried within our confines.’ (Notes of the Florentine sculptor, Lorenzo Ghiberti, XVth. century.)
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About this edition
- The words
- Herbert Trench's English translation, copied word for word.
- Copied from
- Left out
- The source library's header, footer and license, in 2 places
- The title page and opening pages before chapter 1, in 3 places
- Pictures and their captions
- Notes and pages added by translators, editors or publishers, in 4 places
- The printed table of contents (the app makes its own)
- Page numbers and running heads from the printed pages
- The printed closing line "THE END" (a closing line, not the author's text)