To the Reader.

The following text is the conclusion of William Rawley's preface, preserved from the original printing.

(The lack of a rigid order) was because he considered that other men would now think that they could do the same, and so continue with a further collection. If the Author had lived, many would have desired to have had his guidance original: "inducement" regarding his Lordship’s method original: "Order". For proof of his skill, I can refer anyone to his Lordship's Latin book, On the Advancement of Learning original: De Augmentis Scientiarum, which (if my judgment is worth anything) is written in the best order of any writing I know. I will conclude with a common saying of his Lordship’s: that this work of his, the Natural History, is the world as God made it, and not as man has made it; for it has nothing of mere imagination.