PREFACE. ALTHOUGH it is generally known that a Commission has existed during the last thirty years for the better preservation and publication of the Records of the Kingdom, but few persons are aware of the precise nature of the numerous volumes which have been printed by its authority. It is the object of the following sheets to supply that information; and, by rendering the world better acquainted with the utility of those works in illustrating British History, and, in many cases, for Legal purposes, it is conceived that an acceptable service will be rendered to historical and antiquarian literature. In executing this task, the plan has been to adopt the descriptions of the respective volumes in the remarks which are prefixed to them; and it is to be particularly understood that criticism upon their merits has been carefully avoided. For all which is said of their value, excepting what occurs within inverted commas, the writer of this tract is, however, responsible; and he has no fear that the truth of his statements will be disputed. Notwithstanding that he has not permitted himself to inquire whether the works might or might not have been more judiciously executed, or whether they were the most important which could have been undertaken, he has not withheld praise where he believed it to be due, nor hesitated to correct mis-statements where the errors were likely to mislead. |