work had been the earlier) gave place to a sincere friendship. The first edition of Vergil's work contained 306 proverbs taken from classical sources. A second, expanded, edition appeared in 1521: it contained a further series of 431 Biblical proverbs, and was dedicated to Wolsey's follower, Richard Pace. This edition is preceded by an interesting letter sent in June 1519, which gives the names of many of Vergil's English friends, including Thomas More, William Warham, Thomas Linacre and Cuthbert Tunstall. The Adagia ran through about 20 editions down to 1550. De Inventoribus Rerum Vergil's De Inventoribus Rerum was published in 1499, having been written in only three months. It was a history of origins and inventions, describing in three books the "first begetters" of all human activities. Book I investigated the origin of the gods and the word "God", along with such matters as the creation, marriage, religion and learning. Book II covered, among other topics, the origins of law, time, military science, money, precious metals and art. Book III covered, again among other topics, the origins of agriculture, architecture, towns, theatres, tools and materials, maritime navigation, commerce and prostitution. For the edition of 1521, Vergil added five more books, devoted to the initia institorum rei Christianae, i.e. the origins of Christian rites and institutions. He probably thought that this addition would be a popular one, but it was also a concession towards critics who had labelled the De Inventoribus a work of heretics and depravity. The work nonetheless included criticisms of monks, priestly celibacy, indulgences, and of the policies and constitutional status of the papacy. As a consequence it was placed on the Index Librorum Prohibitorum (papal list of prohibited books) in 1564: an expurgated text, sanctioned by Gregory XIII, was published in 1576. De Inventoribus was, however, exceedingly popular, and was quickly translated into French (1521), German (1537), English (1546) and Spanish (1551). Thirty Latin editions had been published by the time Vergil died in 1555; and the work eventually ran to around 70 Latin editions, and another 35 translations. The English edition of 1546 was an abridgement made by Thomas Langley, which also proved highly successful and was reprinted several times. The work is notable for the immense industry that went into its compilation, and the range of ancient and modern writers on which Vergil was able to draw. Gildas …de calamitate, excidio et conquestu Britanniae In