Acknowledgments
First and foremost, I would like to thank Paolo Sartori for encouraging this project from the beginning and considering it for Brill’s venerable HDO series. I am also grateful to Dr. Sartori for his perceptive comments and suggestions on an earlier draft of the manuscript.
Several other colleagues and friends read the translation or the entire manuscript and offered valuable comments and corrections: David Brophy, Allen J. Frank, Rian Thum, and Brill’s two anonymous reviewers (whose thoughtful recommendations inspired major revisions).
Special thanks are due to David Brophy and Rian Thum. Dr. Brophy labored to substantially improve my original transcription draft. He also offered his exceptional erudition in deciphering several of the most challenging passages in the Turkic manuscript. Dr. Thum provided me with his encouragement throughout the writing and revision process; and, of course, with his excellent, insightful preface.
Thanks are also due to Patricia Radder, who guided the project through all stages of production and fielded many questions; and to Håkan Håkansson of Lund University Library, who sent me high-quality scans of the original manuscript along with permission to reproduce them here.
Finally, thanks to Ashley, the light of my life.