THE preparation of this volume has occupied the leisure hours of many years, in the course of which I have received much assistance from my friends. I take this opportunity of expressing my grateful thanks to: Professor Babinger, Professor Paul Pelliot, Sir William Foster, Mr V.Minorsky, Mrs Cecil Edwards, Miss Peggy Jacobson, Miss Elizabeth Symes and Miss Stella Buchanan.
In accordance with the system followed in this Series, the punctuation and the spelling of English words have been modernized, but as a rule obsolete words have been retained, and where necessary, explained. With regard to foreign personal and place names, the spelling of the originals has been retained throughout, the modern transcriptions being given in square brackets on their first appearance, and occasionally elsewhere, while complete cross-references will be found in the Index.
With regard to Anthony’s family name, I have adopted throughout the form Sherley which was generally employed by the Wiston branch of this house instead or the more usual form Shirley. The chief variants found in contemporary documents are Sherlie, Shierlie, Shirlie, and such foreign spellings as Scierley, Xerley, and Cherle.