Known abbreviations have been silently extended. In English texts, the use of capitals has been modernized. Quotations in Latin – from the Bible, and ecclesiastical writers – have been italicized, as have Latin words and phrases found in materials in English. For ease of comprehension in the English translations, paragraphs have been inserted. For Italian texts, accents have been inserted according to modern usage. Empty space enclosed by square brackets denotes illegible text in the original. In the footnotes, where no archival reference is given, the document is present among the edited materials in this volume. Dating is that given in the original documents: in the Stuart kingdoms, the Julian calendar was observed, while in Catholic territories on the Continent the Gregorian calendar was generally used, whereby dating was ten days after the corresponding day in the Julian calendar.

Part I comprises materials composed during the lifetime of Francis Slingsby, who died on 6 December 1642; the numeration is in Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3 …)

Part II comprises materials written after Slingsby’s death; the numeration is in large Roman numerals (I, II, III …)

In the case of documents in Italian and Latin, the English translation follows the transcription in the original language; however in the case of Part II, document XIII (Father Maurice Ward’s account of FS, for the years 1634–1642), the Latin original and the English translation are in parallel. There is a single footnote numbering which includes both Latin text and English translation; on each page the sequence of footnote numbering is disjointed, one series following the Latin text, and the other series following the English translation.