Anonymous

“ Why is Venus painted naked?
Epictetus. All the loves are painted naked as well as Venus, and because naked beauty pleases most; but it ought not to be done.
Hadrian. Why did Venus marry Vulcan?
Epictetus. To show how hot love is.
Hadrian. Why was she squint-eyed?
Epictetus. Because her loves were depraved ones.
Hadrian. What is love?
Epictetus. The trouble of a peaceful breast; modesty or shame in a boy; blushes in a girl; a fury in a woman; ardor in a young man; a joke in old age; a crime in a seducer. ”

“ The book is given to the American Institute by Alanson Nash, Esq., of New-York, one of the Members of the Institute, on condition of their publishing, in their Annual Transactions, the account and drawings of the Liburna, and of the ships freighted with wheat from Egypt, and the female tribute-bearers of Africa. ”