The front matter opens with an essay by Raniero Gnoli, 'La rivelazione del Buddha' (ix-lxxviii - the same essay opens Vol. I, for which see below). This is followed by an 'Introduzione ai testi tradotti', which situates the texts in the development of Buddhist thought and is rich in bibliographical detail. It may be described as an outline of the major texts and developments of Mahayana thought, and can stand as an independent essay. There are brief notes on editorial principles (Nota all'edizione) and on the transcription and pronunciation of Pali, Sanskrit and Tibetan (Trascrizione e pronuncia dei vocaboli in pali, sanscrito e tibetano). There is a map of 'la diffusione del buddhismo', and there two tables of Tantric categories - the 'six families' (le sei famiglie) and 'the signs of death' (i segni di morte), the latter divided into the arista of the sun, the arista of the moon, and 'natural death' (la morte naturale).
