A number of texts informed the writing of The Bellwether Revivals, but there are a few works that I am particularly indebted to:
Herbert Crest’s newspaper article on hypnotism is a fictitious reworking of Andi Rierden’s ‘A Hypnotist Taps the Mind’s Power in North Haven’ (New York Times, 12 December 1993). I have embellished upon the facts at the heart of Rierden’s piece to suit the requirements of the novel; in doing so, I have stayed close to the style and structure of her original article to retain a sense of authenticity.
Aspects of Elsa Ronningstam’s book Identifying and Understanding the Narcissistic Personality (Oxford University Press, 2005) helped me to define the limits of Eden’s ‘condition’. Richard Kivy’s Music Alone (Cornell, 1990) and The Corded Shell (Princeton, 1980) are key to my understanding of music aesthetics, though I’m sure Eden would take issue with some of his assertions about Mattheson. I relied on Hans Lenneberg’s translation of Der Vollkomenne Capellmeister, as published in The Journal of Music Theory (1958), when beginning to construct Eden’s musical philosophy.
Finally, Beekman C. Cannon’s comprehensive book Johann Mattheson: Spectator in Music was enormously valuable to my research, and I am grateful to Yale University Press for giving permission to reprint excerpts from it.