This week's First Impressions, the competition in which you have to identify a book from its opening sentence, comes from an eminent Venetian: "Emperors and kings, dukes and marquises, counts, knights, and townsfolk, and all people who wish to know the various races of men and the peculiarities of the various regions of the world, take this book and have it read to you."
Entries to: First Impressions, The THES, Admiral House, 66-68 East Smithfield, London E1 9XY, fax to 0171 782 3300 or email to theschat@thes.co.uk The winner receives a Pounds 20 book token; the closing date is April 22.
The winner of last week's competition, who identified Oscar Wilde's The Portrait of Dorian Gray, is Timothy Bewes of London W1.