From the Editor

Without a doubt, this issue, which is devoted to the Ossian epic put to print by James Macpherson in the middle to late 1700s, has been a labor of love for James Porter, who conceived of this Special Issue some years ago and has worked diligently to see it finally come to light. It would be unfair for the current JAF office to claim the credit for the initial acceptance of this Special Issue; that credit must go to Jack Santino and Tom Zimmerman. However, the JAF editors and staff at the University of Missouri have worked very hard to see the issue completed. We need to thank James Porter, Joseph Nagy, Valentina Bold, and Thomas McKean for their quick work and continued good humor in making revisions on their articles and meeting our demanding deadlines, even from their homes and offices across the waters. In the end, we hope they are all pleased with this issue of JAF dedicated to the history, creation, and controversy of the Ossian poems and the part James Macpherson played in folkloristic research, methodology, and interpretation. As always, we welcome your responses to the articles in this issue of JAF, particularly from our readers who know well the many fields of inquiry that intersect with this period of folklore and literary scholarship. Responses will be published in future issues in the new JAF section, "Dialogues."