An Autobibliography by John Caius, from Britain, in one book 1

A few years ago, my dear Thomas, that distinguished and unforgettable scholar Conrad Gessner tried to persuade me to compose a short catalogue of all my writings. I did write something in response to his wishes, but it was quite brief and limited because I did not know exactly why he was asking. ³ Now you are making the same request, and not just a request, for in your most recent letter on the subject you make your case so strongly that it amounts almost to compulsion. ⁴ You put forward so many reasons and you urge your suit with such powerful eloquence that I may appear to gratify you not out of friendship but because of the strength of your case. When I am in London, you importune me; when I am in Cambridge, you do the same; from near or far, you continually jog my memory, with the result that I wonder just what there could be in the book that /1v would appeal to you. Personally speaking, I certainly cannot see what there is in it that you desire so much. Your wish by itself is a sufficiently good reason for wanting to satisfy you, provided there is nothing here to annoy you or others, and even if there were, provided it is not damaging, I think that that can be left to your goodwill and our friendship, when it is such a pleasure and you are also issuing a sort of order. So here is the book you demand. Since I have no copy of the catalogue I wrote for Gessner to give to you, I shall repeat and rework all the earlier material, adding and appending what I have composed since I wrote to Gessner. ⁵ I shall also add the reasons and occasions for writing, the persons and circumstances involved, and the places where my writings were published. I shall also explain the titles and almost all the arguments of the books that we wrote, translated or edited, and, as I go along, where necessary, we shall mention disputes among anatomists, the death of the most celebrated Conrad Gessner, and the pronunciation of Greek and Latin according to the opinion and custom of the Greeks, Italians and Germans. We are therefore dedicating this treatise on my own books to you, because you too have been a writer and editor. ⁶ We shall go through everything in chronological order, beginning with my early years.