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Acknowledgments ways of thinking profoundly influenced my own. Without the theoretically informed and politically motivated feminists at Syracuse University in the late 19805 and early 19905, I would never have conceptualized this project. Their seminars, essays and books, conversation, and the reading groups they participated in meant that I had the experience of learning from them at the same time I worked through significant intellectual problems with them. Linda Alcoff, Beverly Allen, Dympna Callaghan, Steve Cohan, Jim Duncan , Felicity Nussbaum, Linda Shires, RobynWiegman, and Tom Yingling were allcentral to my intellectual growth. The generally encouraging climate for my work has been sustained by many people, but no one more singly important than Felicity Nussbaum. Her perceptive scholarship, including her dedication to historical precision and theoretical sophistication, is a model that has long inspired me. No one could hope for a mentor more generous with her time or insightful in her comments than Felicity. Her impact on my work and life is profound. If one of the most rewarding aspects of writing this book has been the continuing support tendered by long-time mentors like Felicity Nussbaum and Dympna Callaghan, one of the most delightful experiences has been meeting new friends, who are now valued colleagues. Spring 1997 at the Huntington brought together a fabulous constellation of people, manyof whom dedicated a great deal of time to reading mywork. Chris Brown, Dian Kriz, Terri Snyder, Blakey Vermeule, and Natalie Zacek all provided incisive critique at the most crucial point in my project. In various ways, they all led me to think more carefully about my claims and the structure of the individual chapters that they read. Long past the time we left California, Chris Brown, Dian Kriz, and Margaret Newell continue to pose challenging questions about the issues we tackle in our different disciplines. Personally and professionally, I have gained so much from the past two years spent talking to Dian about race in the eighteenth century. Having a close friend steeped in eighteenth-century colonial culture who is also a part of daily life reminded me of the best that the academy has to offer—an intellectual companion. HIS book bears the traces of the teachers, mentors, and friends whose T 3/0 A C K N O W L E D G M E N T S The Huntington fellowship was also indirectly responsible for introducing me to my editor at University of Pennsylvania Press, Jerry Singerman. His initial interest in this project and patience with its completion has been a reliable source of strength over the past few years. Vin Carretta and Kris Straub, the readers of the manuscript, offered thoughtful feedback that spurred the last round of revisions. Their continued input has given me the best of all worlds: esteemed mentors, excellent colleagues, and friends. Ursula Appelt, Carson Bergstrom, Susan Comfort, Jim Egan, Michelle Jensen, and Ashley Montague all gave reassurance and smart critique in the last months of revision . Craig Smith and Allen Larson have always been there for "intellectual therapy." In the several stages of writing this book, I have been helped considerably by the generosity of institutions and individuals who supported graduate student and junior faculty development. A Syracuse University Graduate Research Grant first opened the British Library to me, and a Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education Faculty Professional Development Grant permitted me to return some years later. I was also fortunate to have access to the fine resources at the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library through a short-term fellowship, an experience that inspired me to try to return to the West Coast. A Security Pacific and Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Fellowship at the Huntington Library allowed me to revise the manuscript, and if any one event could be said to be a happy turning point in a career, this was it. I was also helped by an Indiana University of Pennsylvania Senate Research Committee Award, for which Ginger Brown, then Associate Dean for Research, encouraged me to apply. She also generously supported my leavewith a much-needed laptop computer and other material resources. In the final year of writing and researching this book, I was given the most important gift of all—time to think—as well as money and a place full of wonderful resourceswith which to work, by the National Endowment for the Humanities, which made possible one of the most productive and fulfilling years of my professionallife at the John Carter Brown Library. The President of Indiana University...

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