Preface

Preface OnekeynoteofthisvolumeofStudiesinEighteenth-CenturyCulture isstruckbytheCliffordLectureofRobertDarntonwithwhichitbegins: heresy.Manyoftheessayscollectedhereattackorreviseorthodoxiesold andnew,explicitorimplicit.BeginningwithDarnton'saudacious recharacterizationoftheFrenchrevolution,andconcludingwithPaul Alkon'sPresidentialAddressof1990,whichrequiresreformulationof "theeighteenthcentury"itself,ourcontributorsnotonlyproposenew materialforconsideration,butreconsiderationsofreceivedperspectives. Typically,theyderiveimpetusfromtheothercommonfeatureofthis diversecollectionofessays,trueandresponsibleinterdisciplinarity. Almosteveryessaydrawsonexpertiseinatleastoneotherdiscipline; everyessayisthoroughlygroundedinitsowndiscipline.Thus,like ASECSitself,SECCisalsomulti-disciplinary.Disciplinesrepresented includeanthropology,art,classicalstudies,economics,politicalscience, religion,and,ofcourse,historyofseveralkindsandliteratureinseveral languages.Ithinkreadersfrommanydisciplineswillfind,asIhave, muchthatisnew,muchtorespect,perhapssomethingstoquestionor reject.Editingthisvolumehasbeen,inthefullestandbestsense,an enlighteningexperience. IwishtothankthemembersoftheEditorialBoardforoutstanding service,underthedifficultconditionsofbeingshort-handedandhaving aneditorawayfromherhomebase,andalsotwohelpfulandingenious personsattheUniversityofFlorida,mygraduateassistantChuck Gobin,andLouiseP.Stephenson,mysecretarywhenIamfunctioning asdepartmentalchairthere.Bothofthemhavecopedablyandpatiently notonlywiththeusualchoresconnectedwiththeannual,butwiththe unusualproblemscreatedbymyabsence.Mr.Gobinalsocompiledthe indexforVolume21. Iwishalsotothankthosewhocreatedthehappyoccasionofthat absence,thefacultyoftheSchoolofHistoricalStudies,Institutefor AdvancedStudy,Princeton,whohavesupportedmyresearchonGibbon xi xii /Preface during1990-1991andincidentallythefinalpreparationsofthisvolume, andmembersofthelibraryandsecretarialstaffoftheInstitutewhohave beenhelpfultome,especiallyMargaretVanSant.AndfinallyIwishto acknowledgethesupportoftheUniversityofFlorida,whichhasmade possiblemyworkonthisand(asassociateeditor)priorvolumes,and initialsupportformyassociateeditorshipfromBostonUniversity. —PatriciaCraddock December,1990 ...