Dark Victorians

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments I wish here to acknowledge the investment others have made in this work and in me. This book would not have been possible without the instruction of U. C. Knoepflmacher who trained me as a Victorianist. The book was arguably under way as soon as I stepped into his classroom at Princeton. I would also like to recognize historian Ken Goings who, early on, saw the value of my work on black Victorians and encouraged me to persist in the exploration of my ideas. I owe thanks to the many librarians who assisted me along the way. These include the librarians at Rhodes College, the University of Memphis, DePauw University, the New York Public Library, the Schomburg, Howard University, the Library of Congress, and the British Library. I also wish to thank Irene Ferguson, assistant archivist at the University of Edinburgh. A grant by the Faculty Development Committee at DePauw University and the generosity of Neal Abraham, the vice president of Academic Affairs at DePauw, enabled me to complete this work. I am grateful, too, for the professionalism and assistance of acquisition editor Joan Catapano and her editorial staff. Finally, I wish to extend a special thanks to Yanna and, now here at the end of this process, to Darrel, for loving me and keeping me sane. Dark Victorians ...