I need scarcely remind any reader at all conversant with matters of
high antiquity, that the principal portion of these Manuscripts are
written upon vellum; but I may add for the information of the curious
bibliophilist that many of them retain their pristine covertures,
whether of parchment or of wood, and that some are adorned with elegant
illuminations.
Much as I regretted to notice how much these valuable documents have been
injured by previous neglect, and are still suffering from the dampness of
the chamber in which they are kept; it afforded me abundant consolation
to discover that of the Manuscripts mentioned by Lyttelton, as missing in
his time, the most interesting and most valuable were still extant. These
are in the order of the Catalogue.
16. Genealogia Reg’ Angl’ et de Gul’ Bastardo, et cet’ Regibus
Angl’ succedentibus.