Ars Brevis

1. The Alphabet

The alphabet is included in this Art to enable us to make figures, mix principles and rules, and investigate the truth. By using single letters to stand for many things, the intellect is opened to a broader range of meanings and better equipped to build science. This alphabet must be known by heart, without which the artist cannot make good use of this Art.

THE ALPHABET
B. stands for goodness, difference, whether? God, justice, avarice
C. stands for greatness, concordance, what? angels, prudence, gluttony
D. stands for duration, contrariety, of what? heaven, fortitude, lust 
E. stands for power, beginning, why? man, temperance, conceit
F. stands for wisdom, middle, how much? imagination, faith, accidy
G. stands for will, end, what quality? senses, hope, envy
H. stands for virtue, majority, when? vegetation, charity, wrath
I. stands for truth, equality, where? elements, patience, lies
K. stands for glory, minority, how and with what? the instrumentative, compassion, inconstancy