preface with

preface (something) with (doing something)

To recite something as an introduction to something else. Often used in passive constructions. Let me preface this statement with an unreserved apology for what has happened. We should always preface these board meetings with a reading of the previous meeting's minutes.
See also: preface
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

preface something with something

to begin something with a particular message. She prefaced her speech with a recitation of one of her favorite poems. Alice prefaced her remarks with a few personal comments.
See also: preface
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • all right
  • a/the feel of (something)
  • (I) wouldn't (do something) if I were you
  • (you've) got to get up pretty early in the morning to (do something)
  • a straw will show which way the wind blows
  • a crack at (someone or something)
  • (you) wanna make something of it?
  • all for the best
  • a thing of the past
  • a slew of (something)
References in periodicals archive
In other words, while the comments in Aveling's preface with regard to the origin of the translation are generally informative, Sinha's comments regarding the same issue are more explanatory in nature.
The translator's preface as a paratextual device in Malay-English literary translations
Ficino can thus conclude his preface with the following, cheerful lines:
Yet it is rather misleading, firstly because it is not the title which Iamblichus gave to his book, and secondly because no one has really noticed that in Ficino's language the word mysteria does not exactly mean "mysteries" but rather "heathen theology," since he himself defines the purpose of the book in his preface with the words "quid Aegyptii et Assyrii sacerdotes de religione rebusque divinis senserint" ("what the Egyptian and Assyrian priests have thought about religion and matters divine").
Florence, 1492: the reappearance of Plotinus