XXVI INTRODUCTION. 



Collectanea." All the MSS. in the Sloane 

 Collection I have transcribed myself; of those 

 in the Bodleian Library, No. vii. Is from a 

 photograph, the remainder were copied for me 

 by a person recommended as being highly reliable. 

 I thought it best to retain all the erasures and 

 interlineations in order to show as much as 

 possible what was passing in their author's mind : 

 in the foot-notes I have sought to acknowledge 

 in situ the valuable help I received from 

 numerous correspondents to whom my best 

 thanks are due, but I owe a special debt of 

 gratitude to Professor Newton, at whose instiga- 

 tion the work was undertaken, for his kind 

 assistance and for the loan of scarce books 

 which it was necessary to consult in the 

 interesting investigations needful to elucidate, 

 if possible, some of the obscure passages in 

 the text, a task in which if with the best 

 intentions should I have sometimes failed, I 

 must ask the reader's indulgence. 



It may be truly said of Sir Thomas Browne 

 that a prophet hath no honour in his own 

 country ; the writings of this remarkable man 

 are little known in the city of his adoption, and 

 a recent movement to erect a monument to his 

 memory has hitherto met with feeble support. 



Norwich, December, 1 901. 



T. S. 



