I desire gratefully to acknowledge my indebtedness to many faithful,
loving and able students of Venetian lore, without whose books my own
presentation of Venice in the sixteenth century would have been
impossible. Mr. Ruskin's name must always come first among the prophets
of this City of the Sea, but among others from whom I have gathered
side-lights I have found quite indispensable Mr. Horatio F. Brown's
"Venice; An Historical Sketch of the Republic," "Venetian Studies," and
"Life on the Lagoons"; Mr. Hare's suggestive little volume of "Venice";
M. Léon Galibert's "Histoire de la République de Venise"; and Mr.
Charles Yriarte's "Venice" and his work studied from the State papers in
the Frari, entitled "La vie d'un Patricien de Venise."
Mr. Robertson's life of Fra Paolo Sarpi gave me the first hint of this
great personality, but my own portrait has been carefully studied from
the volumes of his collected works which later responded to my search;
these were collected and preserved for the Venetian government under the
title of "Opere di Fra Paolo Sarpi, Servita, Teologo e Consultore della
Serenissima Repubblica di Venezia" and included his life, letters and
"opinions," and all others of his writings which escaped destruction in
the fire of the Servite Convent, as well as many important extracts from
the original manuscripts so destroyed and which had been transcribed by
order of the Doge, Marco Foscarini, a few years before.