The ‘Founder's Book’ is a manuscript of five sections, dating from about the late fifteenth century, relating to the history of the large and wealthy Benedictine abbey of Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire. The two sections reproduced in this edition centre on describing the founders and patrons of the monastery going back, allegedly, to two Mercian noblemen of the early eighth century named Oddo and Doddo. Later patrons included a distinguished series of magnates, including the earls of Gloucester of the Clare and Despenser families, followed by the Beauchamp earls of Warwick, Warwick the Kingmaker, and George, duke of Clarence. Each major figure is illustrated in colour in a carefully executed but amateur way that recalls the Rous roll of the same period, made not far away in Warwick. Unlike that roll, which distinguished the armour of different periods of history, the Tewkesbury figures portray a static world of costumes going back to Saxon times. The men wear plate armour, and the women the headdresses and robes of the designer's own society. In accordance with the heraldic beliefs of the day, the Saxon and Norman warriors are attributed with coats of arms as well, and the manuscript provides a considerable body of evidence on heraldry, 121 coats altogether, and far more when quarterings are added.

The edition has been prepared to a high standard. After a judicious placing of the manuscript in the context of late medieval English art by Julian Luxford, a detailed analysis of the heraldry is given by Adrian Ailes, and an edition of the Latin text with a translation contributed by Susan Powell. These give us all the information we could desire. For historians, the manuscript is helpful in several ways. It shows the importance of royal or aristocratic patrons in monastic history and the respect with which they were cherished. It illustrates the interest in earlier history at the end of the Middle Ages, viewed as a largely unchanging Christian past of knighthood, piety and benefaction. It summarises the legends of earlier times while providing a good deal of factual evidence about the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. This includes details of family history such as marriages, children, dates of birth and records of baptisms, confirmations and godparents. There are valuable details about the monastery itself: its abbots, altars, images, masses and graves. Finally, the manuscript is the source of a list that has been reproduced elsewhere of all those killed at the battle of Tewkesbury in 1471, with the names of those who were executed afterwards and of the much smaller number who were spared and pardoned.