The translation of the Life of St. Rose of Viterbo was offered to the editors of this series by a friend in Italy; and when it was accepted, the editors believed it to be a translation of the Italian Racconti della Vita, de' Prodigi, e del Culto di Santa Rosa Viterbese, by Bernardino Mencarini. When the MS. arrived, it was found to be taken from another Italian Life, less full upon the cultus of the saint, but with a more pleasing and simple narrative of her life, which the editors were glad to accept in lieu of Mencarini's antiquarian work, notwithstanding the disadvantage of having no original to correct the translation by. The portion published is confined to the biography of the Saint, and comprises only the first and part of the second book of the original.