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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I AM VERY GRATEFUL AND much indebted to countless individuals who guided me through the many collections: Jack Wills, Ed Perkins and Harrison Cheng for their endless advice and support; the late Mr Oyevaar and Mr Plantinga at the National Archives in The Hague; Jack Parker, Carol Urness and others at the James Ford Bell Library; fellow researchers and veterans of the Dutch archives, Cynthia Viallé and Natalie Everts; Leonard Blussé, Femme Gaastra and the staff at the Centre for the History of European Expansion; Erik Gøbel at the Rigsarkivet in Copenhagen; Anders Larson, Ulf Andersson and Kristina Söderpalm in Gothenburg; Chang Pin-tsun and Ch’en Kuo-tung at Academia Sinica in Taiwan; Eddy Stols and Bart de Prins at Leuven University in Belgium; and Carl Feddersen in Kristiansand, Norway, for his endless encouragement and hospitality between research trips. There are many others, too numerous to mention here, in Leiden, Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Antwerp, Ghent, Brussels, London, Stockholm, Uppsala, Lund, Bergen, Oslo, Beijing, Macao, Hong Kong, Taipei, Boston, Salem, Providence, Mystic Seaport, Canberra and other places whom I must thank in general for their kind assistance. Without the unwavering support of family, this project would have derailed early in the process. They endured much for its sake, for which I shall never be able to repay them. My only hope is that the final product is worthy of the many sacrifices they endured on my behalf. Finally, I am very grateful to the following societies, agencies and institutions for their generous support in funding this project: Institute for International Education Dissertation Fellowship (Fulbright 1996–97); Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation Dissertation Fellowship (1996–97); American Scandinavian xviii Acknowledgements Foundation Dissertation Fellowship (Los Angeles Chapter: Summer 1997, and New York Headquarters: 1998–99); McVicar Foundation of the University of Southern California (1996–97 and 1999); National Resource Dissertation Fellowship (1998– 99); Massachusetts Historical Society Research Fellowship (Summer 1999); Peabody Essex Museum Research Fellowship (Summer 1999), Australian National University Visiting Fellowship (2005), and Macao Cultural Institute. There are several institutions in Macao that have been instrumental in advancing this study. Special thanks to friends and colleagues at the Macao SinoLatin Foundation, University of Macao, Macao Historical Archives, Macao Cultural Institute and Macao Inter-University Institute for their support. ...

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