I owe thanks to many people for helping me with this book. I
badgered numerous members of the Yale history department,
at some time or other, with requests for information, and
they all responded cheerfully and helpfully. W ithout my naming them
all individually, I hope they will accept this collective mention of gratitude. The same was true for those in the Whitney Humanities Center
at Yale, where the first draft was written. I would like to thank all the
fellows there for their guidance and encouragement.
Among the scores of people from other departments at Yale who
also helped with advice, I am especially grateful to Herbert Marks,
Wayne Meeks and Thomas Greene for making what turned out to be
crucial suggestions at the right times. For helping me track down
Ricci’s four prints, I am grateful to Egbert Haverkamp-Begemann and
Jennifer Kilian, as well as to the staff of the Department of Prints and
Photographs at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, under
whose guidance I at last held two of the originals in my hands. Leo
Steinberg gave help with interpretations. Charles Boxer, at a memorable luncheon, charted my course for Goa and Macao.