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A C K N O W L E D G M E N T S In thanking the many people who have helped me bring The Vulgar Question of Money to fruition, I have to begin with my colleague Robert Hamm, who has read more drafts of these chapters than anyone should. My other writing groups, which consisted of Daniel Novak, Sharon Weltman, and Pallavi Rastogi and Jacob Berman , Lauren Coats, and Matt Sandler, were also key in helping me finish the book. At an earlier point in time, a writing group that consisted of Rick Moreland, Dana Nelson, and Reggie Young enabled me to formulate the terms of my argument. I am particularly grateful to Dana who asked the hard questions I am still trying to answer. My colleagues Brooke Rollins and Michelle Massé both read parts of the manuscript and gave me useful feedback. I especially want to thank the reader for the Johns Hopkins University Press, John Kucich, who provided an encouraging and insightful report that enabled me to go beyond the place where I thought my argument stopped. The group of people I met through my involvement with INCS (Interdisciplinary Nineteenth-Century Studies) has seen me through both the project and life crises. In particular, I thank Deborah Denenholz Morse for inviting me to air my ideas about Anthony Trollope at Exeter and Mary Jean Corbett for reading chapters at key moments and responding quickly with useful advice. I am grateful to the Dickens Universe and the people associated with it, who have enabled me to present parts of this material in a venue where it received insightful responses. My thanks go particularly to John Jordan, Helena Michie, and Gerhard Joseph, all of whom were intensely encouraging. I also want to thank my associate professor support group, Teresa Mangum, Tricia Lootens, and Carolyn Williams, especially for their virtual toasts to success. The list of people who have read or heard parts of this argument and aided in its development is long and probably not complete. I thank Kathy Psomiades, Sharon Marcus, James Thompson, Devoney Looser, Mary Ann O’Farrell, Harry Shaw, Laurie Langbauer, Beth Newman, Susan David Bernstein,Susan GriYn,Lauren Goodlad,and others for all they have taught me about my project. Andrew Miller proved to be one of the world’s superlative xvi Acknowledgments editors when he helped me shape material connected to this project for publication in Victorian Studies. An ATLAS grant from the Louisiana Board of Regents gave me a year free from teaching to complete the project. My partner, Phil Adams, fussed me when I needed it and believed in me throughout. Parts of the introduction are taken from my essay“Rich Woman/Poor Woman: Toward an Anthropology of the Nineteenth-Century Marriage Plot,” which appeared in PMLA 124.2 (2009) and is reprinted by permission of the Modern Language Association. Parts of chapter 1 are taken from “Austen’s Powers: Engaging with Adam Smith in Debates about Wealth and Virtue,” published in Novel 34.1 (2000), reprinted by permission of the publisher, Duke University Press. ...

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