Preface to the Edition of 1621
by David Calderwood
The First Book of Discipline (1560)
The Second Book of Discipline (1578)
The text of the First Book of Discipline is based upon the published edition in the Works of John Knox (edited by David Laing; Edinburgh: James Thin, 1895), Vol. 2, pp. 183-260.
The text of the Second Book of Discipline is based upon the published edition in David Calderwood's History of the Kirk of Scotland (edited by Thomas Thomson; Edinburgh: Wodrow Society, 1843), Vol. 3, pp. 529-55. Other editions were consulted, including the text in Calderwood's The True History of the Church of Scotland (1678 edition), pp. 102-16. For the convenience of the reader, the present edition has adopted the chapter subdivisions given in the Thomson edition of Calderwood's History. Readers interested in a critical edition of the Second Book may wish to consult: James Kirk, The Second Book of Discipline (Edinburgh: St. Andrew Press, 1980).
David Calderwood's Preface was first published anonymously in his edition of The First and Second Book of Discipline (Amsterdam, 1621).
In the present edition, all documents have been edited to bring them into greater conformity with contemporary spelling, punctuation, and grammar.
Copyright © 1993 by
Presbyterian Heritage Publications
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