of the various works which he needs, describes their bindings, and
mentions in what part of his monastery-cell they will be found. He
wants a Vatable with gilt edges, bound in black; it should be found in
a case for smaller volumes which lies on his writing-table. He asks
for a Bible, printed by Plantin, bound in black leather and fastened
with black silk ribbons. He demands a Biblical concordance which is in
folio. This lies on a high shelf near the window.[168] He begs to have
the works of St. Justin, which will be found in the shelves on the
left as you enter his monastery-cell. But not all his requests are for
theological works. A true son of the Renaissance, he finds
entertainment or instruction in communing with the best of antiquity.
When in this mood he asks for his Aristotle bound in sheep's-skin; it
will be found in the shelves on the right as you enter the
monastery-cell. He would like a Horace and a Virgil--of which there
are a great many ('_de que hay hartos_'), so that he does not
particularize. He wants his Homer (in Greek and Latin) bound in
sheep's-skin, and with red edges; it will be found in the shelves
where the works of St. Justin are.[169] Again, besides the works of
St. Leo, bound in parchment, he asks for his Sophocles in black calf;
for a Pindar (in Greek and Latin), bound partly in black leather, with
gilt edges; and for _Le prose dil Bembo_, a volume in small quarto
with a parchment binding.[170] This throws light on Luis de Leon's
progress as a linguist. An imprisoned man who asks for an Italian book
to becalm his fever may be safely presumed to know that language. In
or about 1569 when Arias Montano read aloud the anonymous Italian work
which disturbed Zúñiga's scrupulous conscience, Luis de Leon, though
of course able to catch the author's drift, did not really know
Italian at that time.[171] This deficiency had been made good, as he
gives us to understand, previous to March 12, 1573--twenty eight
months, or more, before Luis de Leon asked that his copy of _Le prose