This anthology would have been impossible for me to complete without the help of two remarkable people, Ming Nagel and Nalini Jones, who worked tirelessly on this project, searching libraries, following my often badly expressed hunches, deciphering my always impossible handwriting and dealing with many publishers, agents and authors. I am fortunate to have had the experience of working with two such assistants and I thank them wholeheartedly.
I have sought the advice and enlisted the help of various other people during the editing of this volume. My thanks to Helen Anglos, Fiona Carpenter, Fredéric Constant, Maura Dooley, Margaret Drabble, Georgia Garrett, Michael Gorra, Antony Harwood, Maya Jaggi, Suzannah Lucas, the librarians of Amherst College, Julian Loose, Frank Pike, Bill Pritchard, Jo Shapcott and Marina Warner.