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Acknowledgments I am grateful for the many people and institutions that have supported me over the years, and for the opportunity to acknowledge them in print. A fellowship at the Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities (IPRH) at the University of Illinois let me develop an observation into a book-length project, while a year at the Tanner Humanities Center at the University of Utah allowed that project to become an actual book. In between, a grant from the Gilder Lehrman Foundation funded archival research on the Loyal Publication Society. Gettysburg College provided both time and money for the writing process. My editors at Rutgers University Press, Leslie Mitchener and Rachel Friedman, ably assisted by Katie Keeran, have provided excellent feedback, and timely reminders. Hearty thanks are due, as well, to Tim Roberts, of the American Literatures Initiative, and Robert Burchfield, who were instrumental in getting the manuscript ready for publication. I am truly delighted that the project found such a congenial institutional home. I am grateful, as well, to Oxford University Press for the permission to reprint portions of chapter 5, which appeared in an earlier iteration in American Literary History 16 (2004): 29–57. Throughout the years, I have benefited enormously from the encouragement and example of numerous colleagues, friends, and teachers, including Steve Brauer, Lawrence Buehl, Chris Castiglia, Russ Castronovo , Erin Forbes, Anselm Haverkamp, Christopher Johnson, Caroline Levander, Stacey Margolis, Sam Otter, Mary Poovey, Joan Saab, Xiomara Santamarina, Pam Schirmeister, Bill Solomon, Lisa Steinman, and Tina x / acknowledgments Zwarg. Any missteps the book contains are despite their very best efforts . At the IPRH, Suvir Kaul and Matti Bunzl created an atmosphere that encouraged the lively exchanges through which the argument took shape; Chris Catanzarite guaranteed that the resources were in place so all the fellows could thrive. Sophia Mihic intervened in my thinking at key moments, and her influence is evident throughout the book. The excellent feedback I received while in residence at the University of Utah from Vincent Cheng, Stacey Margolis, Howard Horwitz, and the Tanner Ladies—Michaele Ferguson and Kathrin Koslicki—helped me to refine and clarify the book’s thesis. My colleagues in the English Department at Gettysburg also deserve thanks for their unflagging and exuberant encouragement. In the midst of all this support, however, one person stands out as exemplary. Serving variously and often simultaneously as an advocate, an enthusiast, a mentor, and a friend, Bob Levine has cheered this project at every turn. I do not exaggerate when I say that I’m not sure if this book would exist today if it weren’t for his generosity and kindness. And then there are those who have endured me as I learned how to finish a book: Peter Chapin, Katja Garloff, David Garrett, Deborah Hellman , Alex Hrycak, Virginia King, Karen Kligerman, Karen Lubell, Kate Nicholson, Allison Pease, Bill Ray, Brady Rymer, Bridget Clark Rymer, Adrienne and John Scott, and Kim Smith. The McDermotts, Michelle and Bob, kindly opened their home to a scholar seeking to extend her fellowship dollars. I am both deeply grateful and incredibly lucky to have such a patient and caring group of friends. This good fortune includes, as well, a family—my father and stepmother, Tom and Connie, and brother, John— that has supported me emotionally through the years. A special thanks is due to the Silver Spring Breens (Ali, Danny, Molly, and Sean) for intervening at moments when it seemed that the project would never end. Two names are notably absent from the above lists. Shaindy Rudoff, a brilliant scholar and dedicated friend, died too soon in the summer of 2006. As I have worked through the end of this book, I have keenly missed her warmth and wit. Even more difficult was the sudden loss of my mother, Marie H. Duquette, in the early days of 2007. I dedicate this book, which she would have loved to have seen in its completed form, to her memory and to all the things she taught me over the years. Yet my debt and gratitude alike are greatest to Michael Breen, my first, most exacting reader and closest friend. His unwavering conviction that I can do anything, even when it is glaringly obvious that I cannot, makes the very best version of me possible. ...

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