Acknowledgments

This book has been long enough in the making that it seems almost impossible to remember every person who helped it along its way. Let me begin by thanking Simone Balayé, who as president of the Société staëlienne was ever gracious in encouragement, as well as Frank Bowman, Avriel Goldberger, and Madelyn Gutwirth, always equally encouraging and generous with their time. Many members of the Société staëlienne, and various constantiens, have contributed to this project: Jean-Daniel Candaux, Stéphanie Genand, Othenin d’Haussonville, Norman King, Kurt Kloocke, Florence Lotterie, Lucia Omacini, Jean-Pierre Perchellet, François Rosset, and Susan Tenenbaum, among others. The final chapter was written for Doris Kadish. I would also like to thank Anne Estevis and Felicity Teague for their helpful suggestions. Much of the book was assembled at Indiana University, and the project took final shape at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. My thanks go to both institutions, as to Cambridge University Press. I would particularly like to thank Bethany Thomas, who has fielded this book through the process of publication. Various libraries have also contributed, notably the Bibliothèque nationale de France, the British Library, the Cambridge University Library, the Indiana University Library, and the Universitätsbibliothek Wien.

The book was prepared for publication in Oxford, with grateful thanks to Andrew Verschoyle and Claire Coull, and in Paris under the auspices of the LIS laboratory – Lettres, Idées, Savoirs – and its directors, Anne Raffarin and Pascal Sévérac. I am also very happy to thank my copy editor with Cambridge University Press, Lisa Sinclair, who went above and beyond the call of duty.

Several chapters in this book appeared in earlier versions in French or English, in a variety of journals and conference proceedings. Those publications are acknowledged in the notes that open each relevant chapter – but let me say that this monograph was a years-long project, and my sincere thanks go out to every editor involved.

I dedicate this book to the person who more than any other made it a reality after all these years: my wife, Margarita.