Acknowledgements

1The editors are indebted to all those who gave moral support or good advice when this volume was still at the planning stage, including Justin Weir and William Mills Todd III. We are grateful to Adam Horsley (University of Exeter) for timely traduction, and to Jacob Emery (Indiana University) for an inspiring critique of our volume which was simultaneously astute and empathetic. The memory of Gennady Barabtarlo’s deep, playful erudition warmed our work and emboldened our search for unexpected patterns and meanings.

2We would also like to thank Alessandra Tosi and Melissa Purkiss, of Open Book Publishers, for their exemplary work on behalf of this volume. The University of Missouri Research Council and the University of Exeter’s Institutional Open Access Fund provided invaluable financial support. We are grateful to our families and colleagues for their forbearance and good humour.

3And finally, we thank posterity, for their patience with our plagiarism.