The publication between 1887 and 1897 of these letters, which form part of the archive of the Dutch Church at Austin Friars in London, was a remarkable feat of bibliography. The archive had been deposited in 1866 with the Library Committee of the Corporation of the City of London, and in 1884 Jan Hendrick Hessels began to prepare them for the press. The letters, written in Dutch, French, English, Italian and Latin between 1524 and 1723, throw light on the religious, intellectual and political ferment of the period: among the writers are Erasmus and Durer; among the destinations, London, Antwerp, Paris, Venice, Rome, Seville and Madrid. The first volume (reissued here in two parts) consists of the correspondence of the great Flemish map-maker Abraham Ortelius (1527-1598). Each letter is preceded by an English summary of its contents, and Hessels' preface provides a context for the volume.