Acknowledgements
It is important to take the opportunity to thank a number of specific individuals who inspired and facilitated the completion of this volume. I first would like to extend my deepest gratitude to Julian Deahl at Brill for contacting me about the prospect of editing a companion volume on seals in the first place. His enthusiasm and ideas helped shape the project and set things in motion. I also offer thanks to Kate Hammond, acquisition editor at Brill, for directing the project in its most formative phases and providing much important logistical support throughout the project’s duration. At Brill, I also thank Marcella Mulder for providing important information and updates that ensured continued progress on the volume and for her keen editorial eye, in general. It was a pleasure working with the Brill team on this volume, and I am grateful that Brill continues to support interdisciplinary edited collections on all aspects of medieval studies.
I additionally would like to acknowledge the other scholars who donated time and energy to this project, both known and anonymous. I must first thank Charlotte Bauer, a fellow graduate of the University of Illinois, who sparked my interest in seals ages ago and served as a co-editor of this volume in its beginning stage. She helped define the book’s goals and scope, and she provided invaluable commentary for a number of the essays. I also thank Matthew La Fontaine for his fine translation of Marek Wójcik’s essay from Polish to English, and Erin Donovan for her editorial work with Caroline Simonet on early drafts of her essay. I likewise offer my thanks to the two anonymous Brill peer-reviewers, whose astute observations and criticisms helped to refine each essay in the volume, including my own introduction. They provided concise but very rich reader’s reports in a timely manner. Finally, I thank Marsely Kehoe for methodically and swiftly completing the copy editing of the book in preparation for submission to Brill. I was constantly motivated by her work ethic and amazing attention to detail. Collectively, these individuals not only helped in the execution and completion of the project but also made it a stronger volume as a whole. Of course, any remaining errors are my own.
I finally offer my deepest thanks to my own professional and personal support systems, which are often one and the same. I thank my colleagues at Auburn University Montgomery, especially Naomi Slipp, my compatriot in art history, and Michael Burger and Jan Bulman, my fellow medievalists who have been especially supportive of my work on seals. Lastly, I offer heartfelt thanks to Clark Danderson, my partner in life, for his support of my work and, most importantly, my general happiness.