The two letters at pp. 293-6 have been printed from photographs made in the Bodleian by the courteous permission of Bodley's Librarian.
In the notes an attempt has been made to illustrate the Battle of the Books from the literature of the controversy to which it belongs. The notes on the other pieces reprinted are much less elaborate, and are mainly intended to assist the reader who is interested in Swift's work.
The editor's debt to previous writers on the Ancient and Modern Learning Controversy—particularly to Jebb and Monk—is too obvious to need acknowledgement. In writing the notes on the Battle he has occasionally made use of the editions of Sir Henry Craik, Mr C. Egerton, and Mr Temple Scott. The second, in particular, has suggested some classical parallels.
Prof. Spingarn's Critical Essays of the Seventeenth Century appeared as this book was passing through the press.
To his friend Mr C. D. Chambers, M.A., Lecturer in Latin in the University of Birmingham, the editor would offer his thanks for much valuable help.
