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Acknowledgments Writing this book has been a long-term project during which I acquired numerous debts, used many libraries and archives, both in the United States and in Europe, and developed many friendships. It has been supported by a number of grants and fellowships, many of which arrived at precisely propitious moments. I am indebted to friends and colleagues who have discussed and critiqued my work and to my students, from whom I have learned much, especially those in my seminars and courses at the Johns Hopkins University and in a seminar at the Folger Institute for Renaissance and Eighteenth Century Studies. The research for this book was supported by three grants from the National Science Foundation (grant nos. SES-8607112, DIR-9112729, and SES-9729871). I also am grateful for a three-month fellowship from the Dibner Library, of the Smithsonian Institution Libraries; and an NEH fellowship for an academic year at the Folger Shakespeare Library. The Folger Library has been an ideal location for both research and intellectual exchange. I thank everyone there, especially Werner Gundersheimer, Lena Cowen Orlin, Kathleen Lynch, Carol Brobeck, and Betsy Walsh. In addition, the Library of Congress has been a crucial research base; Bruce Martin in his capacity as supervisor of research facilities has always been helpful and solicitous of scholars and their work. Carol Armbruster, a European area specialist, has provided both technical assistance and moral support. A different version of chapter 4 appeared as “Power, Patronage, and the Authorship of Ars: From Mechanical Know-How to Mechanical Knowledge in the Last Scribal Age,” Isis 88 (March 1997): 1-41, © by the History of Science Society. All rights reserved. I thank the University of Chicago Press for permission to reprint. Friends and colleagues who have helped well beyond the call of duty in various ways include Bert S. Hall, Pamela Smith, Alice Stroup, Mary HenningerVoss , Robert Mark, Frank A. C. Mantello, and Alex Roland. I discussed many parts of the research with Gaby Spiegel and Mary Fissell, both of whom also read major portions of successive revisions of the manuscript and helped to bring about major improvements. My sister, Priscilla Long, an author of scholarly works, fiction, and poetry, critiqued chapters and in addition discussed with me this work in particular and writing in general during numerous usually late-night telephone conversations. My dear friends Glenn Bugh and Jackie and Ken Berkman have been there for the long haul, and I thank Ken as well for his work on the index. I thank Robert J. Brugger, of the Johns Hopkins University Press, for his encouragement; an anonymous reader, whose extensive comments helped to improve the manuscript greatly; and Joanne Allen, whose astute and rigorous copyediting has saved me from many errors. Finally, and most of all, Bob Korn has helped with innumerable problems involving computers, modems, and logistics, has read drafts, and has discussed this work with me over the years. Our daughter, Allison, has grown from a kid whose favorite game was hide-and-go-seek to a hardworking and enthusiastic college student. This book is dedicated to them. xii Acknowledgments ...

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