Bishop Gilbert Burnet's "History of the Reformation in the Church of Eng...

Bishop Burnet in this preface discusses various reviewers of his Volumes 1-2. He cites four equivocatory sections offered up by Jeremy Collier, opinions rather than facts. He also notes that Collier sounded more Romanist than Anglican and wished, for the sake of integrity, that Collier would have owned Rome rather than Canterbury; that is, Collier would have at least some integrity. Bishop Burnet also gives high praise to M. L’Enfant’s History of the Council of Constance, as a book based upon a thorough use of primary sources. He believes a careful perusal of L’Enfant’s volume will give a true picture of Popery before the Reformation. A few other volumes are noted. But, his highest praise in terms of books and book reviews involves John Strype with whom Burnet had communications. Strype careful read Burnet with some recommended emendations; the Bishop highly appreciated Strype’s scholarly review. One sees the Bishop’s cautious work with the primary sources, but also his engagements with other scholars.