AN Account of the Book, Entitled, NOTITIA MONASTICA.  
THE design of this Book (now ready for the Press) is to give the World, A short History of the Religious Houses in England and Wales, containing the Names and Qualities of the Founders, the time of the Foundation, the Order, Dedication and Valuations (both according to Speed and Dugdale) of all Cathedral Churches, Abbeys, Priories, Priories-Alien, Colleges, and Praeceptories. Houses of Friars are purposely omitted, because not endowed with Lands, Chantries because they were not Incorporate, and Hospitals, because they consisted of Lay-brethrens. The Method, observed in this Book, is to take the Counties according to Alphabetical Order, and in them to describe the Monasteries according to the Seniority of their Foundations. After the Description of every Monastery are inserted References, not only to the Tome and Page of the Monasticon, and to other Printed Books, wherein are any Memorials relating to that House, but also to all MSS. whether Original Charters, Chronicles, or Leiger-Books thereunto belonging, which are yet Preserved in any Library, or private Gentleman's Custody. The Coats of Arms of the Religious Houses, as many as can be recovered, may be Engraven on small Copper Plates, and prefixed to the Beginning of every County; to which end I have Collected almost 150, few of which were ever Published. There shall be annexed two Indexe's, one of the Monasteries, the other of the Founders.  
Mr. Speed's Catalogue, and the Monasticon Angl. are the only Books of this nature, that were ever Printed; how defective and erroneous the former is, may be easily seen in the following Scheme: And as for the Monasticon, it is too Voluminous and Costly for the generality of Readers; and that Noble Work hath also its Mistakes, and is capable of Additions, as will appear in almost every Page of our Notitia: Which may be Printed in 20 or 30 sheets in Octavo, and so will be grateful to those who have neither leisure nor opportunity to consult, nor can spare Money enough to purchase the Monasticon; and it cannot but be acceptable and useful to those that have the Monasticon already, upon the account of the Additions and Corrections, the Arms, the Repertory of the Registers, and the References to the Monasticon, and other Printed Histories. Tho' I do not pretend to have made this Short History of Religious Houses complete (which can never be expected) or free from all Errors; yet, after having diligently consulted all Leland's MSS. two MS. Catalogues of the Religious Houses, etc. I find good Authority to correct the following Numbers of Mistakes, and to supply these Defects in the Monasticon and Speed.  
 Errors Corrected in the Mon. Angl. Additions made to the Mon. Angl. Errors corrected in Speed's Catal. Defects in Speed supplied. Bark-shire 4 8 4 15 Bedford-shire 1 8 2 11 Buckingham-shire 2 7 7 19 Cambridge-shire 1 8 4 19 Cheshire 0 5 1 9 Cornwall 0 8 4 7 Cumberland 0 4 1 5 Derbyshire 1 10 6 8 Devon-shire 1 16 8 35 Dorsetshire 2 4 2 13 Durham 0 5 4 13 Essex 4 10 5 10 Gloucester-shire 2 6 2 11 Hamp-shire 1 4 1 27 Hereford-shire 0 4 4 14 Hertford-shire 2 9 2 9 Huntingdon-shire 0 0 2 4 Kent 1 16 4 39 Lancashire 0 5 2 16 Leicester-shire 1 12 5 13 Lincolnshire 3 19 14 72 Land. and Middlesex 0 9 5 13 Norfolk 4 30 13 58 Northamptonshire 1 13 7 16 Northumberland 2 3 2 13 Nottinghamshire 3 3 4 15 Oxford-shire 2 5 1 11 Rutland-shire 0 0 0 4 Shrop-shire 0 4 6 16 Stafford-shire 0 9 6 22 Somerset-shire 2 9 8 19 Suffolk 3 18 4 22 Surrey 0 3 2 6 Sussex 2 9 3 22 Warwickshire 0 3 4 29 Wilt-shire 2 11 8 28 Worcester-shire 0 6 5 14 Yorkshire 2 20 11 87 Wales 3 31 6 57 In all 52 243 179 821