The following is a preliminary translation of the 1977 papyrological edition by Francesca Longo Auricchio of the first two books of Philodemus' On Rhetoric (Book I: PHerc. 1427; Book 2: PHerc. 1674 and PHerc. 1672). I have occasionally integrated Longo Auricchio's own subsequent improvements in the constitution of the text and some of those by David Blank, who is currently working on a new edition of these texts. In this translation, words and phrases within square brackets indicate (unless otherwise specified) conjectures and supplements made in Longo Auricchio's edition, words and phrases within rounded brackets indicate interpretative additions posited by Longo Auricchio or myself to complete the sense of a fragmentary passage.