Note (return) — THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION.

The INKSTAND is of bronze, and its singular device is said to refer to the Poet's amorous caution. In his Life,2 we are told that "The amours of Ariosto are a difficult theme for both his eulogists and his biographers. He has alluded in his Poems to several ladies with whose charms he was captivated, but, with the exception of Alessandra and Genevra, the names under which they are mentioned are fictitious. His caution in this respect is thought to have been hinted at in the device placed on his favourite inkstand, and which consisted of a little Cupid having his forefinger on his lip in token of secresy." The evidence in proof of Alessandra's being his wife is little short of unanswerable.