IT was the words of regret expressed by the late H. G.
Richardson that 'some of the best of English monastic
chronicles, the biographies of abbots of the twelfth and early
thirteenth centuries, have been long neglected', and his
particular reference to Reginald of Walden, that led LW to
attempt the rescue from oblivion of The Book of the Foundation
of Walden Monastery. He submitted text and translation to the
General Editors of OMT in 1989, and with their
encouragement DG agreed to act as collaborating historian.
She has written the Introduction, apart from the pages on the
author's style, and has provided historical annotation and
appendices. The whole book has been revised jointly.

The editors are grateful to the curator of the Saffron Walden
Museum who kindly allowed LW, when his interest in the
document was first aroused, to photocopy C. H. Emson's typed
translation of the Arundel manuscript. At a later stage, they
received a generous grant from the Scouloudi Foundation for
the purchase of microfilms of both the Cotton and Arundel
manuscripts. They are indebted to Judith Green for help on the
careers of the early Mandevilles, to Falko Neininger for
information on episcopal charters, to Jane Sayers for
invaluable advice on a number of points, especially in
ecclesiastical law and diplomatic, and to James Binns, Barbara
Harvey and Michael Lapidge who read the entire text and
suggested many improvements. They also record their thanks
to John Cordy, Anne Gelling, Anne Joshua, and Sarah Ridgard,
who took care of the final stages of the volume's production.

London, 1998 DG

LW

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