Much of this book was researched and written while I was resident in Vienna, Wolfenb€uttel, and Berlin, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank the scholars who helped to facilitatemy stays in these cities. I amgrateful to Martina Fuchs and Alfred Kohler for their friendly support during my time in Vienna, to Jill Bepler, for her years of kindness during my stays in Wolfenb€uttel, and to Claudia Ulbrich, for helping tome to get on myfeet in Berlin. I would also like to thank the following friends and colleagues who have answered questions, provided advice, or sent me unpublished chapters of their own work to help me on my way: Euan Cameron, Geoffrey Dipple, Martin Gierl, Kevin Gould, Mark Greengrass, Susan Karant-Nunn, Peter Marshall, Judith Pollmann, Penny Roberts, and Alexandra Walsham. I am also extremely grateful to the two readers who worked through the manuscript and provided me with such thoughtful and helpful reviews. None of these scholars, of course, is responsible for the views of this book or the errors that remain. Both at the beginning ofthis project and at the end the assistance provided by the Al exander vonHumboldt Foundation enabled me to undertake research in world-class libraries. It gives me great pleasure to record my appreciation in print for the generous help the Foundation offered during my time in Wolfenb€uttel and Berlin. And finally I would like to record my gratitude to the Queen’s University, Belfast for making it possible for me to live and work in two worlds.