823, in eight volumes, has been almost invariably followed. Here and
there the Editor has silently adopted an emendation that obviously
gives the sense intended, and on p. 277 has inserted in brackets an
acute suggestion made by Mr. A.J. Butler. In a few cases, by far the
most important of which occurs on p. 450, passages which appear in
some but not in all of the MSS. and editions of Villani are inserted
in square brackets.

Sec. 2. _The References._

It is probable that many more references to Dante's works might
advantageously have been inserted in the margin had they occurred to
our minds; and we shall be glad to have our attention called to any
important omissions.

As a rule we have aimed at giving a reference to any passage in
Dante's works on which the text has a direct bearing, or towards the
discussion of which it furnishes materials, without intending thereby
necessarily to commit ourselves to any special interpretation of the
passage in Dante referred to.

But in some instances such a reference would, in our opinion,
distinctly tend to the perpetuation of error. In such cases we have
purposely abstained from appearing to bring a passage of Villani into
relation with a passage of Dante with which we believe it to have no
connection. For instance, to have given a reference to the _Vita
Nuova_ Sec. 41, 1-11, on p. 320 would have appeared to us so distinct and
dangerous a _suggestio falsi_ that we have felt compelled to abstain
from it even at the risk of being charged with a _suppressio veri_ by
those who do not agree with us.

Sec. 3. _The Principle of Selection._

Our aim has been to translate all the passages from the first nine
books of Villani's Chronicles which are likely to be of direct
interest and value to the student of Dante.[1] A few chapters have
been inserted not for their own sakes but because they are necessary
for the understanding of other chapters that bear directly on Dante.
When a chapter contains anything to our purpose, we have usually
translated the whole of it. Where this is not the case the omissions
are invariably indicated by stars * * * * * *. We have given the
headings of all the chapters we have not translated, so that the
reader may have in his hand the continuous thread of Villani's
narrative, and may have some idea of the character of the omitted
portions. By these means we hope we have minimised, though we do not
flatter ourselves that we have removed, the objectio