Preface

Preface ThecorpsofASECSmemberswhoreviewedsubmissionstoVolume25 ofSECCselectedthesixteenessayshereasthebestofthemanyfinepapers readatlastyear'smeetingsofASECSanditsaffiliates.Assuch,theyalsorepresentSECCstwenty-fifthannualsnapshotofthecurrentscholarlyin- terestsofthemembership:richlydiverseandinterdisciplinaryasusual,but alsonotablymodestinscopeyetunsettlingineffect.Eachoftheseessays, althoughselectedwithoutanaimtofocusthevolumeonanytheme,elabo- ratesontheprotean,elusive,andsometimesevenillusivequalityofAuthor- ity. Asifhehadknownallalongthatthiswouldbethecase,inhisClifford lecturePeterHollandtracesDavidGarrick'sincessantrenegotiationofhis authorityasactor,theatremanager,andeditor.BethFowkesTobin'sBritishbotanistsinIndianegotiatewiththeirIndianandDutchillustratorstoestab- lishtheirownpictureofitsplantsasauthoritative.InKatharineMorsberger's essay,JohnLocke'sreputationassecularauthorityundergoesaseachange, asdoesJonathanSwift'sreputationastheauthoritativeAnglo-Irishmercan- tilistinCharlesH.Hinnant'sessay. InThomasLockwood'sstudytheseventeenth-centuryedificeofFrench culturalauthorityoverEnglandcrumblesattheHaymarketTheatrein1738; inDowningThomas'sstudy,metaphorsunderminethenewlycelebratedau- thorityofsensibility;inCaroleF.Martin's,religion'sauthorityissimilarly ambiguatedandsubverted.Nodegreeofauthority,itseems,isunassailable:LouisXVFsimputedimpotencebreedstheabundantmock-poeticalandwifely subversionsofhisregalauthorityrecountedbyJeffreyMerrick;James Schmidt'sKantoutmaneuvershismonarchandothercounter-revolutionary foestodefendEnlightenmentphilosophy;andReginaJanes'smodernfilmmakersrevisitthefoundationsofJacobinauthority ,constructingrivaltheo- ries. Dubiousthoughitmightseemtothereaderofthisvolume,authorityre- mainsthesought-afterrefugeofmanyfiguresunderstudyhere:ThomasCarr's Voltairedrapesexpressionsofgriefwithanauthoritativeveilofformulaic verse,JanetE.Atkins'sPamelaconsLocke'spedagogicalauthority,ClaudiaThomas'swomenpoetsdonAlexanderPope'smantleofpoeticauthority, MadeleineKahn'sAnnYearsleyandHannahMoreconstructafragilecol- xii/Preface laborativeauthority,andSusanBranson'sPhiladelphiancounterfeiter-hero- inetriestowrestatleastpaperauthorityoverherownlifefromherenemies andjudgesbywritingherownmemoirs. AlltheskepticismofVolume25notwithstanding,atthispointIhaveun- shakablefaithinalltheauthorsinthisvolume,whosepatience,willingness torevise,and—yes—expertauthorityontheirsubjects,hasbeenexemplary. Iammuchindebtedaswelltotheeditorialboardandtheirreaders(see acknowledgementpages),whodedicatedatrulystaggeringnumberofcom- binedqualityhourstotheproductionofVolume25.Makenomistake:SECC isagenuineASECScommunityproject!Iwouldliketothankespecially AssociateEditorJulieHays,whosesteadye-mailmessagesandeditorial acumenwereandremaininvaluable,andJenniferYocum,myassistantcopy- editor,whosekeeneye,tact,andenthusiasmforherworklightenedtheeditor's loadandspiritsateveryturn. SyndyM.Conger Macomb,Illinois ...