Letter 2

From: Isidore of Seville, bishop and scholar To: Braulio of Zaragoza, bishop Date: ~632 AD Context: Isidore responds to Braulio's request for the Etymologiae, explaining the work's status and expressing his own reservations about its completeness. To my dear son and brother Braulio, greetings in Christ. Your letter reached me and brought genuine pleasure — it is always good to hear from you, and to know that the work we began together in Seville still matters to those who were shaped by it. I must be honest with you about the Etymologiae. The work is large — larger than I had imagined when I began it, and it has a way of expanding to absorb whatever I add to it. There are sections I am satisfied with and sections that embarrass me when I read them back. I had hoped to do more revising before allowing it to circulate, and I have not yet managed to bring all the books to the standard I would wish. That said, I take your request seriously. You are not asking out of idle curiosity, and you are not a man to misuse what I send you. If the work is imperfect — and it is — it is no less imperfect for staying locked in my study. I will begin to put together what I have in a form that can travel. Be patient with me a little longer. The copying alone will take time I do not have in abundance. Your father in Christ, Isidore