Black Bess; or, The Knight of the Road — A Tale of the Good Old Times — page 2: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

—% _. ach psa, — = —_ a el Ce I etn ee en oom) a « rs rd aD / wo t, (2 2 Ca J y , | PREFACE. Tux prefixion of a preface to a work which has been so long before the public as the present would be a work of supercrogation did not the Author feel that he could not allow so favourable an opportunity of thanking his patrons to escape him. On his own and the Publisher’s behalf, then, the Author begs to express his warmest thanks for the very unusual amount of support which this Romance has received for so long a period, ECoOnniclooo (-) (C(O)