ts, Irishmen, Frenchmen, Dutchmen,
Spaniards, a Portuguese, a Dane or Sleswicker, a Bohemian, a Greek, a
Jew. The languages of the documents are English, French, Dutch,
Spanish, Portuguese, and Latin. Though none of them are in German or
by Germans, not the least interesting pieces in the volume are those
(docs. no. 43, no. 48, and no. 49) which show a curious connection of
American colonial history with the very first (and characteristically
illegal and unscrupulous) exploits of the Brandenburg-Prussian navy.

The range of repositories from which the documents have been procured
is also considerable. Many were found in the state archives of
Massachusetts, many in the files of the Supreme Judicial Court for
Suffolk County, many in the collections of the Massachusetts
Historical Society, others in the archives of Rhode Island and New
York, in the office of the surrogate of New York City, and in the New
York Public Library. A very important source of material,
indispensable indeed for certain classes of document, was the records
and papers of the vice-admiralty courts of the colonial period.
Extensive portions still remain in the case of four of these courts,
at Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Charleston (see the first
foot-notes to docs. no. 126, no. 184, no. 165, and no. 106,
respectively). A large number of the documents, larger indeed than
from any other repository but one, were drawn from the inexhaustible
stores of the Public Record Office in London, namely, from the
Admiralty and Colonial Office Papers. Others came from the Privy
Council Office; a few, but among them two of the longest and most
interesting, from among the Sloane and Harleian manuscripts in the
British Museum; one whole group from the Rawlinson manuscripts in the
Bodleian Library at Oxford. Three of the Kidd documents were obtained
from among the manuscripts of the Duke of Portland at Welbeck Abbey.
Several of the pieces, and a number of lesser extracts used in
annotations, were taken from colonial newspapers, and two from printed
books not often seen.

Archivists and librarians have assisted the editor with their
customary and never-failing kindness. It is a pleasure to express his
gratitude to Mr. J.J. Tracy and Mr. John H. Edmonds, former and
present archivists of Massachusetts, Mr. Herbert O. Brigham of the
Rhode Island archives, Mr. A.J.F. van Laer and Mr. Peter Nelson of
those of New York; to Mr. Worthington C. Ford and Mr. Julius H.
Tu