Giraldus Cambrensis, speaking probably of this very book, says, "Sin autem ad perspicacius intuentum oculorum aciem invitaveris, et longe penitus ad artis arcana transpenetraveris, tam delicatas et subtiles, tam actas et arctas, tam nodosas et vinculatim colligatas, tamque recentibus adhuc coloribus illustratas, notare poteris intricaturas, ut vere hæc omnia angelica potius quam humana diligentia jam asseveraveris esse composita."
It is more abundantly used in Vesp. A 1, which, as we shall have occasion to notice hereafter, is in a very mixed style.
Bede expressly says, that at Augustine's synod, held at the commencement of the 7th century, the bishops and learned men attending it, "after a long disputation, refused to comply with the entreaties, exhortations, or rebukes of the saint and his companions, but preferred their own traditions before all the churches in the world, which in Christ agree among themselves."
D'Agincourt, "Painting," plates xxviii. xxix. xxx.
This precious volume and its illustrations were first figured and described by Mr. Westwood.