Читать книгу The Illustrated Letters of Richard Doyle to His Father, 1842–1843 - Doyle Richard - Страница 9

Acknowledgments

My first debt is to the Morgan Library and Museum, New York, where I spent many pleasant hours admiring and studying Richard Doyle’s letters. It was during the museum’s reopening exhibition in 2006 that I first encountered one of Doyle’s letters. After studying material by Joseph Severn and Richard Monckton Milnes for several hours, I decided to stretch my legs and see the Morgan’s exhibition of illustrated letters. There, lo and behold, I found Doyle, spectacularly modest in a corner, deferring to Emily Brontë, Carroll, and Wilde. His single letter, however, was by far the most detailed and imaginative of the group. Since I was fortunate enough to have access to the manuscript collection, I asked the curator if the Morgan owned any additional Doyle material. As it turned out, they did. Fifty more letters! And thus began one of the most delightful digressions of my career. I thank Christine Nelson for introducing me to the letters, providing helpful information about their provenance, and fielding my inquiries over the past few years.

My second and far more lasting debt is to Daniel and Carol Wilson, whose fund has made possible the color publication of a number of these facsimile letters. I owe them, John Ramsay and Mike Huber, who also contributed precious funds from the Provost’s Office at Muhlenberg College, my sincere gratitude for their belief in the project and their continuing generosity. Without their enthusiasm and support this book may never have seen the light of day.

For their superb genealogical detective work on the Doyle family, I thank Phillip G. Bergem and Georgina Doyle; for his advice, Rodney K. Engen; and for reading the manuscript and offering superb critical commentary, Juliet McMaster. It’s a much better and more accurate edition for her knowledge of the Doyle family and her discerning eye. At Muhlenberg, Kristin Brodt helped in procuring hard-to-find volumes through interlibrary loan; Grace Gardella provided preliminary transcripts; Dave Huber printed crisp reproductions of Doyle’s letters; and Rudi McCauley lent her expertise (and patience) in creating individual electronic files of Doyle’s letters from the Morgan’s CD. At Penn State Lehigh Valley, Judy Mishriki facilitated my access to the London Times and other databases, and at Lehigh University Diana Toolan wheeled in many volumes of Punch for my perusal (ungrudgingly). Along with Mark Canney and Sharon Wiles-Young, she was also very kind in generating multiple scans of the magazine’s covers and cartoons. For their careful archival work I also thank Elizabeth Scudder at the London Metropolitan Archives and Georgiana Ziegler at the Folger Library. As always, Markéta and Oliver provided their bemused endorsements of my esoteric labors. “You’re working on a dude named Dicky?” Yes, quite happily. “Cool.”