The origin of this book stems from two appointments as visiting professor at Harvard and Stanford Universities, where I taught graduate seminars on “Montaigne and the Imagination.” I wish to thank my colleagues and students at those institutions for their kind invitations, which enabled me to explore this subject more fully.
I am also grateful to a number of institutions that invited me to present lectures, which helped me to come to terms with my work-in-progress on Montaigne and to clarify my ideas. These include: Columbia, Cornell, Duke, Grinell College, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, New York University, the Universities of Miami, Michigan, and Paris IV (Sorbonne), Stanford, and Whitman College.
I would like to recognize the encouragement and feedback I received from Tom Conley, Kathleen Perry Long, Richard Regosin, and the late Marcel Tetel. Their thoughtful comments helped me to gain a better understanding of Montaigne.
I wish to thank the following friends and colleagues who offered support along the way: Ehsan Ahmed, Faith Beasley, Michel Beaujour, Tom Bishop, Howard Bloch, Christian Delacampagne, Jacques Derrida, Philippe Desan, Nelly Furman, Floyd Gray, Daniel and Janice Gross, Ralph Hester, Vivian Kogan, David La Guardia, Françoise Li-onnet, Gisèle Mathieu-Castellani, Pierre Nora, François Noudelmann, John O’Brien, John Rassias, Domna C. Stanton, and Zahi Zalloua.
Jennifer Crewe, associate director of Columbia University Press, has been an exceptional editor. I owe her a special debt of gratitude for her continued advice and encouragement. I also wish to thank freelance copy editor Henry Krawitz for having perfected my manuscript and Malcolm Debevoise for having translated from the French an earlier version of one of the chapters.
Without the constant encouragement of Dr. Stuart Pizer, who enabled me to explore my own imagination, this project would never have been completed. My friend and colleague Brian J. Reilly offered me attentive criticism and editorial advice. One could not have asked for a better intellectual interlocutor. Lastly, I owe a special debt of gratitude to the Pat and John Rosenwald Research Professorship, which enabled me to research and write this book.
Lawrence D. Kritzman
New York and Paris
Winter 2008