RERUM BRITANNICARUM MEDII M\l SCRIPTORES, OR HRONICLES AND MEMORIALS OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND DURING THE MIDDLE AGES. 9875. THE CHRONICLES AND MEMORIALS OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND DURING THE MIDDLE AGES. PrBT,TSHKTl BY THE AUTHORITY OF HER MAJESTY'S TRRASFRT. T'NPER THF mrfVPTTON OF TTTF MASTER OF TTTF FATTt On the 26tli of Jaiuiary 1857, the Master of the Rolls submitted to the Treasury a proposal for the publication of materials for the History of this Country from the Invasion of the Romans to the Reign of Henry VIII. Tlie Master of the Rolls suggested that tliese materials should be selected for publication under competent editors without reference to periodical or chronological arrangement, without mutilation or abridgment, prefer- ence being given, in the first instance, to such materials as were most scarce and valuable. He proposed that each chronicle or historical docu- ment to be edited should be treated in the same way as if the editor were engaged on an Editio Princeps ; and for this purpose the most correct text should be formed from an accurate collation ofthe best MSS. To render the work more generally useful, the Master of the Rolls suggested that the editor should give an accoimt of the MSS. employed by him, of their age and their peculiarities; that he should add to the work a brief account of the life and times of the author, and any remarks necessary to explain the chronology but no ; other note or comment was to be allowed, except what might be necessary to establish the correctness of the text. a 2 4 The works to be published in octavo, separately, as they were finished the whole responsibility of the task ; resting upon the editors, who were to be chosen by the Master of the Eolls with the sanction of the Treasury. The Lords of Her Majesty's Treasury, after a careful consideration of the subject, expressed their opinion in a Treasury Minute, dated February 9, 1857, that the plan recommended by the Master of the HoUs '' was well calculated for the accomplislmient of this important national object, in an effectual and satisfactory manner, within a reasonable time, and provided proper attention be paid to economy, in making the detailed arrange- ments, without unnecessary expense." They expressed their approbation of the proposal that each chronicle and liistorical document .should be edited in such a manner as to represent mth all possible cor- rectness the text of each writer, derived from a collation of the best MSS., and that no notes should be added, except such as were illustrative of the various readings. They suggested, however, that the preface to each work should contain, in addition to the particulars proposed by tlie Master of the Rolls, a biographical account of the author, so far as authentic materials existed for that purpose, and an estimate of his historical credibility and value. Bolls House, Deremher IHoT.