In tracts 1-4, the Black Letter type is transcribed to upright Roman type, while Roman type, used for quotations, is transcribed as italic Roman. In tracts 5-7, upright and italic Roman type are directly transcribed. For the title page of each tract I have attempted to copy the layout, to give some feel for the original. In the second series I have modernised spelling and punctuation, but changed very few words. Throughout, the word order is the same as the original.
Punctuation is more difficult to change without changes to the words.
Martin sometimes complains that the prose of his opponents is poor and sentences so long that 'there are not two full points to the page', yet his own sentences are sometimes equally long and convoluted, with subordinate clause piled on subordinate clause, or rambling parentheses inserted between verb and object, such that the meaning is often difficult to determine. Under these conditions, and with the determination not to change the words or word order, dividing the text into modern, relatively short sentences, is not easy and some passages will still need to be read carefully. I have not attempted to provide more than the minimum of footnotes. These may be to explain allusions in the text or to 'translate' specific words. The name of the Bishop of London is not mentioned in the text but knowing that he was John Elmar adds understanding to the pun of John Mar-elm for a bishop who would cut down elm trees.