MY THANKS GO FIRST AND FOREMOST to James Warren, executive editor of Columbia University Press. He initially proposed this project to me and has offered consistent encouragement throughout its development.
The contributing authors deserve special thanks as well for their good work. They were amenable to revisions and considerate of time constraints and generally made my job as editor much easier.
LaDonna Bowen provided her usual excellent help in preparing the manuscript for the press, and I thank her for the close and valuable attention she paid to the project. Enid Pearsons as copy-editor improved the book considerably, and I appreciate her effort. My thanks go as well to Ronald Harris of the press, who supervised the publication of this documents book, and to Susan Heath, who carefully read over the documents for errors.
My thanks go also to Jill, Robin, David, Ellie, and Logan for lifting my spirits and thereby helping me to finish this work during a particularly difficult time for all of us.