Very interestiing letter, thank you! A couple thoughts:
  • the thrushes thing...so he trapped them, and then ate them? Or trapped them for fun, and put them in his aviary?
  • I looked it up - seems like trich-trach was a type of backgammon, and cricca was a trick taking card game
  • in this section "I return to my house and enter my study; and at the door I take off the day's clothing, covered with mud and dust, and put on garments regal and courtly; and reclothed appropriately, I enter the ancient courts of ancient men" - he's talking about his reading the Latin classics in the evening, right?
  • so this is interesting....the last part of his letter describes the origin of the book The Prince. It was him trying to make use of the knowledge he gained, from his reading of the classics...