Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.
I read this as in connection with Defoe's The Storm (the two works were combined in one volume). You can read my review here. I was confused about whether The Storm was really a work of fiction or not, and Minto really helped to put it in its historical context as an example of the journalistic standards of the day.
I'm afraid that all but the most serious Defoe nerds will be disappointed with this one. It gives some valuable historical contextualization and there are some golden moments where Minto shines, such as the last few pages, but all in all, it's tedious and doesn't give a very satisfying or thorough portrait of Defoe.