Clarius Parmensis Aldo suo S.
{1} Sperabam literas meas et aureos quatuor iam te accepisse, quos Andronico Spandolino, prestantissimo iuveni Bizantino, ad te iampridem dederam. Literas tuas igitur expecto et volumina Theodori et Constant[in]i quae petieram. Fac me consortem, precor, eius operis, quodcumque vel Graecum vel Latinum cura tua imprimetur. Cupio plurimum crebris literis tuis me fieri certiorem quid agas, quidque acturum te putes. Non audeo te nec oblivionis neque negligentiae accusare, quem amicissimum ac diligentissimum non ignoro, non solum ad amorem conservandum amicorum, sed ad augendum quoque. Tamen literae tuae ad me breves et raro perferuntur. Quod non mihi molestum sit nulla ratione praestare possum. Fac me igitur ut sciam de tuis rebus quas amicum scire oportere censes. Vale foelix. Rhacussae. Idibus Novembris MD.
Translation
Daniele Clario of Parma greets his friend Aldus.
{1} I hope that by now you have received my letters and the four pieces of gold that I recently gave to Andronicus Spandolinus, a most excellent Byzantine youth, to give to you. Either way, I await a letter from you as well as the copies of Theodorus and Constantinus which I had asked for. Make me your consort in this business, whatever Latin or Greek is printed by your industry. I hope that much more frequent correspondence from you will keep me informed of what you are doing and what you think that you’re going to do. I don’t dare accuse you of forgetfulness or negligence, since I recognize that you are most friendly and diligent not only in preserving the affection of your friends, but even in increasing it. Nevertheless, your letters to me have been short and infrequent, and I am not able to warrant, in any way, that this is not grievous is to me. In any case, make sure that I know about the things that you think are appropriate for a friend to know. Farewell, and be happy. Ragusa, 15th November 1500.
Notes to the Translation:
Daniele Clario: see note to Letter 16, also by him.
Andronico Spandolino: his name appears only here. While his name does not appear even in Cosenza, Andronicus must have been part of the Spandolini family that emigrated to Venice from Byzantium. Spandolini is probably an Italianised form of the surname Spandounes (see N. Fattori, “Comunità e integrazione delle dispore greche (secc. XV-XVI). Tre casi marchigiani”, Studi pesaresi 4 [2016], 98-99).
Theodoros and Costantinus: Theodore probably refers to the Galeomachia by Theodorus Prodromus, ublished by Aldus in 1495, and Costantinus to Costantinus Lascaris’ Greek grammar (Erotemata), also published in 1495.
Neo-Latin Lab 