- Kempe explains in the Proem that this Preface was written earlier by Scribe #1, who so illegibly wrote the first draft.
- Kempe explains that her pride was broken through sickness and poverty, and her newfound humility drew her closer to God.
- Kempe also suffers from the ridicule of people in many countries for her "spiritual behaviors"—which she promises to show us in the body of the book.
- Kempe says that she will not relate the stories in chronological order, but rather as she remembers them, since she is writing more than twenty years after the fact.
- Again, Kempe wants to explain why she took so long to write. She had offers of help to write her book, but she was warned "in spirit" not to do so.
- Kempe relates the difficulty she had with her first scribe, who wrote so badly that no one could transcribe his work—and how she suffered from it.
- Finally, the good priest appears and, after many trials, begins work on Kempe's book.
- We get a specific date here: the priest begins his work on July 23, 1436.