Metaller Üzerine Risale

For first, to recount the true order of time, and the manner in which I arrived there. Being twenty years old, or thereabouts; after having been instructed, by the care and diligence of my parents, in the principles of Grammar in our house; I was sent by them to Bordeaux, to hear the Arts at the College, because there were usually very learned Masters there. I spent three years there, studying almost constantly in Philosophy; in which I profited so much by the grace of God, and the care of a particular Master of mine, whom my parents had given to me, that it seemed right to all my friends and relatives (because during this time, I had lost both father and mother, who left me all alone) that I should go to Toulouse, under the charge of my said Master, to study the Laws. But I did not depart from Bordeaux without making the acquaintance of other Students who had various books of Recipes collected from many sources, which became familiar to me because my Master took it upon himself to work on them. I was not so lazy that I left a single page unturned of all the books I could recover; so that before going to Toulouse, I had a very large book of them, as thick as three fingers.