“YOU JUST GO too slow,” my smiling ten-year-old daughter, Sheldon, teased recently about the pace of my writing. If only the words had come more easily! That I have not taken longer is owing to the help of friends and family coupled with the kindness of institutions on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. The inspiration for this book came many years ago from André-Philippe Katz, a close friend in graduate school. Despite our plans to collaborate, other responsibilities prevented his participation. The book would have benefited enormously from his remarkable intellect and imagination.
Financial assistance for research and writing originated from a variety of sources. I am profoundly grateful to the National Endowment for the Humanities; the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation; the American Council of Learned Societies; the American Philosophical Society; the Virginia Center for the Humanities; and the American Historical Association. Virginia Tech generously provided research assistance and leaves from teaching.
Over the past two decades, I relied upon the staffs and resources of many splendid institutions. I am indebted to the Public Record Office (formerly at Chancery Lane as well as Kew); the British Library; the Guildhall Records Office in London; the British Library of Political & Economic Science at the London School of Economics; the Bodleian Library of Oxford University; the Cambridge University Library; St. John’s College, Cambridge; Chetham’s Library in Manchester; the record offices of Dorset and Hertfordshire; the Hereford City Library; the District Central Library in Rawtensall; the Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society; the Bristol Central Library; the Department of Irish Folklore at University College Dublin; the National Library of Scotland and the Scottish Record Office, both in Edinburgh; the University of Wales, Bangor; the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth; and the Archives Geneve. In the United States, I am grateful to the Library of Congress; Alderman Library at the University of Virginia; the Earl Gregg Swem Library at the College of William and Mary; the New York Public Library; the Beinecke Library at Yale University; the Lewis Walpole Library; the North Haven (Connecticut) Historical Society; the Bennington (Vermont) Historical Society; the Harvard University Law School Library; Houghton Library at Harvard; and the Suffolk County Court House in Boston. At the Library of Virginia in Richmond, I owe a special debt of gratitude to Sandra G. Treadway and her colleagues. Still other institutions, identified elsewhere, supplied the book’s artwork. They have my deep appreciation.
Closer to home, I benefited from the diligence and generosity of the staff of Newman Library at Virginia Tech, including the late Dorothy F. McCombs, Bruce Pencek, and, most of all, Sharon Gotkiewicz, Lucy Cox, Janet R. Bland, Nancy Weaver, Michele Canterbury, Robert Kelley, and others in the interlibrary loan office headed by Harry M. Kriz. They worked tirelessly on my behalf and always with good cheer. Thanks also to Annette Burr for her expertise in art history. Ruth Lipnik Johnson and Becky Woodhouse at the Roanoke County Public Library were tremendous assets. I am grateful to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints for the use of their genealogical facilities in Salem. I wish to thank Rabbi Manes Kogan for letting me consult the fine library at Beth Israel Synagogue in Roanoke.
A small legion of translators enabled me to canvass a broad range of non-English sources, far beyond my own limited command of French and Latin. Of vital help were Cornelia Bade, Trudy Harrington Becker, Maebhe Ní Bhroin, Blanton Brown, Michel Dammron, Doreen Ebert, Christopher J. Eustis, Dinia Fatine, Jennifer Hayek, Christine Huzil, Berwyn Prys Jones, Andy Klatt, Rabbi Manes Kogan, Keun Pal Lee, Francesca Lorusso-Caputi, William L. McKone, Michele McNabb, Annick Mikailoff, Violaine Morand, Luciano Nardone, Sera Oner, Lida Ouwehand, Joseph Pierro, Shannon Prince, Haingonirina Ramaroson, Alexander Shaffer, Carey Smith, Giuliana E. Taylor, and Naomi de Wolf.
Colleagues at Virginia Tech who assisted my research and writing included Linda Arnold, Mark V. Barrow, Jr., Glenn R. Bugh, David Burr, the late Albert E. Moyer, Steven Soper, Robert Stephens, Peter Wallenstein, Joseph L. Wieczynski, and Young-tsu Wong. Most of all, Frederic J. Baumgartner lent a helping hand, answering repeated questions and drawing my attention to useful sources. He and Richard F. Hirsh both took the time, at any early stage, to read the manuscript. Linda Fountaine, Janet Francis, and Rhonda Pennington all made this project easier, as did a number of students, whether in sharing their insights, scanning illustrations, or volunteering references. I thank especially Sarah Taylor, Jamie Rife, Anne Elizabeth Wohlcke, David Ferro, Estare Alston, Bridgett Dehart, Nicole Evans, Doris Johnson, Eric Robertson, Al Harrison, Larry McCall, and Carlton Spinner. Soo Kang logged countless hours helping me to wade through eighteenth-century newspapers on microfilm, and Lindsay Metts chased down loose ends in Charlottesville. Jason Cruff kindly assisted in organizing my sources. Keith Wilder provided expert help in Edinburgh.
Many friends and professional acquaintances shared references or research of one sort or another. I am grateful to James Axtell, Jonathan Barry, Sharon Block, Mark J. Bouman, Amy Turner Bushnell, Cary Carson, John E. Crowley, David Dauer, Cornelia Dayton, Carl B. Estabrook, Paul Finkelman, Jan Garnert, Karla Girona, David D. Hall, Barbara Hanawalt, Ruth Wallis Herndon, William Lee Holladay, Marja Holmila, Steven C. Hughes, Craig Koslofsky, Allan Kugel, Michael Meranze, Kathryn Mary Olesko, David Smolen, John M. Staudenmaier, SJ, Keith Thomas, and Marc Weissbluth. Robert Gifford and Jennifer Veitch addressed my questions about interior lighting. The clinical insights of Thomas A. Wehr were immensely helpful as I tried to unravel the complexities of preindustrial sleep.
As always, Jack P. Greene was a welcome voice of encouragement, as was George Steiner. Timothy H. Breen, Richard S. Dunn, and Joanna Innes lent their aid early on. Bernard Bailyn, from the book’s inception, helped mightily. I greatly appreciate the references he shared but, even more, his expressions of support and enthusiasm, which were instrumental to the completion of my research. Numerous friends in the profession devoted their time to reading the manuscript, either the full text or selected chapters. For their advice and criticism, I owe much to Thomas Brennan, Robert J. Brugger, Peter Clark, Thomas V. Cohen, Rudolph Dekker, Paul Griffiths, Gilbert Kelly, A. Lynn Martin, Philip D. Morgan, Sara Tilghman Nalle, Paul F. Paskoff, Bruce R. Smith, and Daniel J. Wilson. They helped me tremendously. Joyce and Richard Wolkomir provided intellectual stimulus with their probing questions. In addition, I am grateful for the comments I received when presenting portions of my research at Johns Hopkins University, Louisiana State University, Ohio State University, the State University of New York at Albany, and the University of Sydney. I also gave a talk at the (now) Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture during the year that I served as visiting editor of publications. I am indebted to the staff of the Institute and, most particularly, to Thad W. Tate for the many kindnesses I received during my stay. A small portion of my research previously appeared as an article, “Sleep We Lost: Pre-industrial Slumber in the British Isles,” in the April 2001 issue of the American Historical Review. I am grateful to members of the AHR staff, especially Allyn Roberts and Michael Grossberg.
For their valuable aid, I express my warm appreciation to my exceptional editor, Alane Salierno Mason, along with Alessandra Bastagli, Mary Helen Willett, Janet Byrne, Eleen Cheung, Neil Hoos, Evan Carver, and so many others at Norton. I am indebted to Ede Rothaus for her knowledgeable help with the artwork. Georges and Valerie Borchardt were critical to the book’s progress. I am deeply appreciative to Georges for his wisdom and good will. I would also like to pay tribute to several old friends: Clyde and Vickie Perdue, John and Mary Carlin, Mary Jane Elkins and her late husband, Bill, and Carolyn and Eddie Hornick. Tobie Cruff was a bulwark for both my wife, Alice, and me.
In 1697, the French expatriate Thomas D’Urfey wrote that “night, love and fate rule the world’s grand affairs.” Certainly, for the better part of two decades, “night” and family have ruled mine. My late parents, Arthur and Dorothy Ekirch, were enormously supportive, as were my sisters, Cheryl and Caryl, and their husbands, Frank and George. My parents-in-law, Keun Pal and Soon Lee, opened their home—and their hearts—during my frequent forays to the Library of Congress. I should also like to thank Anna, Don, Annette, David, and their families. I relied shamelessly upon Don and David for their medical insights. Alice, who does so much good in her own work, repeatedly came to my rescue in the course of this book. For that and so much more, I am profoundly blessed.
Shortly after my arrival in Blacksburg nearly thirty years ago, a wise senior colleague reflected that most academics, as they advance in age, think not of their books but of their children. This book is dedicated with love to Alexandra, Sheldon, and Christian, ever in my thoughts, past, present, and for all tomorrows to come.