During the work with this book, I have had the pleasure to find that scholarly generosity is a global phenomenon: I have been met with kindness and support in a number of places. Any remaining shortcomings are my own.
This study started as a PhD thesis, and I offer heartfelt thanks to my supervisors Leos Müller and Leif Runefelt for their readings over the years, as well as for the freedom they afforded me. Anne Gerritsen was an exceptionally helpful examiner at my final seminar, as was Gunlög Fur at the viva, and Mats Hallenberg was kind enough to read the thesis manuscript. For their comments and suggestions for the book, I would like to thank my series editors at Brill, Marcel van der Linden and Dirk Hoerder.
In Macao and Guangzhou, I have benefited from Paul Van Dykes exceptional generosity with his time and knowledge. I would also like to thank Susan Schopp and Wei Chin Wong for making my time in Macao so fruitful. For tips for the final process, I also thank Mario Cams. In Hong Kong, Torbjörn Lodén and Maria Kar-wing Mok have both extended helping hands. I am also grateful to Zhiqiang Shi and Minling Liang, for advice on the Chinese sources.
This work has been enriched from several stays at the Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia at the University of Tokyo, the final year of which was courtesy of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS). I am profoundly grateful to Masashi Haneda for all his support over the years. I am also indebted to Yoko Matsui, Miki Sugiura, Ryuto Shimada, Fuyuko Matsukata and Benjamin Elman for taking the time to comment on my work. The POETS group provided a wonderful environment for discussions, and Koji Yamamoto both supported and challenged my ideas, for which I am glad. Claire Cooper and Yuka Tomomatsu were stellar office mates during the final phase, and Ju-Ling Lee remains indispensable for life at, and outside of, work.
In Berlin, the global historians at Freie Universität Berlin provided a welcoming and thriving environment. Sebastian Conradâs help during the final rewrite has been equally insightful and inspiring. Dagmar Schäfer has kindly let me take part in the seminars at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science. The ARNI group, Michael Facius and Barend Noordam, spur me to do better, and Emma Hagström Molin is a brilliant discussant for a variety of topics. For the times in Heidelberg, I want to thank Roland Wenzlhuemer and Martin Dusinberre.
As for the British side, I am grateful to Steve Murdoch for giving such useful tips and comments. I thank Christopher Lagerqvist for organising my time in Oxford, where I was helped and inspired by Laura Newby and Barend ter Haar
I had a wonderful and rewarding time at the Nordic Institute of Asian Studies (NIAS) in Copenhagen, where I was glad to meet and discuss with Benjamin Asmussen. Holger Weiss kindly invited me to à bo, and has offered valuable advice. Danielle van der Heuvel and Joost Schokkenbroek in Amsterdam have provided input to my work. In Leiden, I would like to thank the energising Cátia Antunes, Kaarle Wirta for his enthousiasm and support, and Edgar Pereira for discussions on the Portuguese Empire. On that note, I also thank Ana Ribeiro in Porto for help with the translations from Portuguese. In Paris, Kapil Raj and Antonella Romano have provided comments and encouragement. The thesis award from International Convention of Asia Scholars (ICAS) gave me a boost just when I needed it, for which I am most grateful. Finally, some gratitudes defy geographical boundaries: a special thank you goes to Birgit Tremml-Werner, for discussions spanning most of the seven seas.
Ending where this started, in Sweden, I would like to thank my colleagues in Stockholm, especially the Centre for Maritime Studies (CEMAS). I am also grateful to Göran Rydén, Karin Hassan Jansson, Marie-Christine Skuncke, My Hellsing, Bo Eriksson, Mikael Alm, György Nováky and Margaret Hunt. In addition, I would like to thank my friends in the Society for Eighteenth-century Studies. In Linköping, I thank Harry Hellberg for sharing his work on Anders Ljungstedt with me and, in Göteborg, I thank Kenneth Nyberg. I also want to thank the friendly and competent people at the National Maritime Museums with whom I have had the privilege to work.
Craig Kelly and Anne Jensen-Urstad have been kind enough to proofread parts of this manuscript; Linnéa Jantvik has been mad enough to read it all â twice.
To many of you, I owe a double gratitude: for getting both me and the book safe to shore. This is certainly true for both Jacob Orrje and Klara Goedecke. I am profoundly grateful to Sari Nauman and Susanna Erlandsson for our past and future passionate debates. Charlotta Forss has been fantastic both as a commentator on the text and as a travelling companion. Mari Eyice, with a heart as great as her mind, has helped me immensely the last years. Emet Brulin â thank you for always being there for me. I also owe my book circle Gertrud, as a collective and individuals, for having my back and for being my haven
This book is dedicated to my Swedish friends, but the same sentiment applies to those near and dear to me all over the world. To quote: âsay my glory was I had such friendsâ.
Finally, I thank my whole extended family, in particular Kerstin, Olle and Nina, for enduring this roaming nature of mine. To the newest member of our family, Lia: how happy I am to welcome you to this world.
Lisa
Berlin, April 2018
Some of the findings in this book appear here at the kind courtesy of Hong Kong University Press, Boydell & Brewer and Presses Universitaires Rennes.
Please see:
âThe life and loves of Michael Grubb: A Swedish trader in 18th-century Canton and Macaoâ, in The Private Side of the Canton trade 1700â1842, edited by Paul A. van Dyke and Susan E. Schopp. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University press, 2018.
âMen You Can Trust? Intercultural trust and masculinity in the eyes of Swedes in eighteenth-century Cantonâ in Encountering the other: ethnic diversity, culture and travel in early modern Sweden, edited by Magdalena Naum and Fredrik Ekengren. Woodbridge: Boydell & Brewer, 2018.
âEspaces dâintersection: Les relations sociales des employés de la Compagnie Suédoise des Indes Orientales à Canton au XVIIIe siècleâ in LâAsie, la mer, le monde: le temps des compagnies des Indes, edited by Gérard Le Bouedëc. Rennes: Presses Universitaires Rennes, 2014.