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Acknowledgments
- Indiana University Press
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- Additional Information
xv A C K N O W L E D G M E N T S Librarians are truly the unsung heroes of book projects that are based on obscure or archival material. I cannot name all those who helped me, but my gratitude goes to librarians at the American Society for Psychical Research; Brooklyn Public Library; Columbia University Library; the Library of Congress; Nashville Metropolitan Archives; the New York Historical Society; the New York Public Library; and the Tennessee State Library and Archives. My special thanks go to the Interlibrary Loan staff at Vanderbilt University Library. Other librarians have become friends and partners in my research. In particular, I thank Christopher Benda and Anne Richardson at the Vanderbilt Divinity Library; Christian Goodwillie, Curator of Special Collections and Archives at Hamilton College, and formerly at the Hancock Shaker Village; Jerry Grant at the Emma B. King Library at the ShakerMuseumandLibraryinOldChatham,NewYork;CarolKaplanat theNashvillePublicLibrary;JanetKerschnerattheTheosophicalSociety in America; Joan Sutcliffe at the HPB Library, Toronto; and E. Richard McKinstryandJeanneSolenskyattheHenryFrancisduPontWinterthur Museum and Library. There must be special acknowledgment, as well, of all who labor to make available primary resources on the web. This book could scarcely have taken shape without the ability to search online nineteenth-century newspapers and magazines. In particular, documents posted on the web xvi front/backmatter made it possible for me to study the early years of the Theosophical movement without travel to distant libraries. Many individuals stimulated me to expand my thinking about Laura. Joseph Horowitz insisted that I see the Metropolitan Opera’s production of Parsifal. By doing so, I came to better understand Laura’s absorption with Wagner. Michael Gomes, at the Emily Sellon Memorial Library of the New York Theosophical Society, suggested sources and brought occult novels to my attention. Kathy Stumph, owner of Welcome Home, an antique shop in Chatham, New York, gave my research a special impetus when she handed me a treasure trove of Laura material. I am pleased that this book is part of the Religion in North America series edited by Catherine L. Albanese and Stephen J. Stein. Catherine Albanese’s comments on the manuscript kept me on Laura’s track, steeling me against the temptation to pursue other interesting paths. Stephen Stein has encouraged my work in Shaker studies, inspiring me to persist through the lean as well as the fruitful years. At Indiana University Press, DeeMortensen,SeniorSponsoringEditor,herassistantSarahJacobi,Angela Burton, Managing Editor, and Marvin Keenan, Manuscript Editor, initiated me into the mysteries of book production. Thanks to my copy editor Emma Young for her attentive reading of the manuscript. Finally, my appreciation goes to my husband Jack for his unfailing support, editorial comments, and computer ministrations. I dedicate this book to Claudia J. Keenan. Curiosity about Laura brought us together, and over the last three years we have emailed each timea startling discovery turnedup. Claudia unstintinglysharedwithme her knowledge, her ideas, and even her original research. She, no less than any of the others named here, bears no responsibility for any errors of fact or interpretation; but without her collaboration, writing this book would have been much less gratifying. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...