"Thus, in what is called the Branch of Virgil, are secretly understood the nine Muses, the seven Liberal Arts, the four Cardinal Virtues, and the three Graces, which together complete the number of the twenty-three letters of the alphabet." "As best I could, by the grace of God, according to my modest theory and philosophical speculation, I have applied the Homeric golden chain to our proportional letter I, and the golden branch of Virgil to the nine Muses and their cycle. "Now, with the Lord’s pleasure, I wish to extend this Homeric golden chain, which I have made in the letter I, consisting of ten links representing the nine Muses and their Apollo, into twenty-three proportioned links arranged all around the other proportional letter O. "This letter O also represents, as the leaves of Virgil’s golden branch have done, the twenty-three letters of the alphabet, and likewise the nine Muses and their cycle. To make this whole matter more easily understood, I have here rendered and loosely joined it in a drawing, as best I could, leaving better execution to those who can and wish to do so."
