Page:Fasti ecclesiae Anglicanae Vol.1 body of work.djvu/10

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vi
INTRODUCTION.

of Somner's Antiquities of Canterbury, Godwin De Præsulibus Angliæ, Wharton's Anglia Sacra, Fuller's Church History, Isaackson's Chronology, Weaver's Funeral Monuments, (authors to whom every student is indebted, and who ought never to be mentioned without respect,) he preferred consulting the original authorities to which they themselves had referred. He wishes it, however, distinctly to be understood, that he has not seen many of the documents to which Le Neve and those authors have referred, arising either from their faulty citation, or from the MSS. not being now accessible; in all such cases, however, he has deemed it advisable to cite their authorities, in case any person should be fortunate enough to procure access to them.

From the year 1199 (the period at which the Chancery records commence, in which all the ecclesiastical appointments, over which the crown exercises any right or control, are registered) to 1715, where Le Neve's compilation terminates, the Editor, as in the earlier portions, has taken Le Neve's lists as the basis of the present edition; and for that period down to the present time he has searched the Patent, Charter, and Close Rolls, at the Tower and Rolls Chapel, the Registers of the Archbishops of Canterbury, the Registers of such of the Dioceses and Collegiate Churches, as he has been able to obtain access to; the Church Books in the Home Office, the Records denominated Bishops' Certificates at Carlton Ride and Queen Anne's Bounty Office, the MSS. in the British Museum, and such printed books as Godwin, Wharton, Browne Willis, Somner, the London Gazettes, the Historical Registers, Gentleman's Magazine, and various County Histories. In addition to which, he has been favoured with the