Acknowledgments
This work was generously funded by an Opus Magnum Grant of the Volkswagen Foundation for the years 2015–2017. Let me also thank Johanna Brumberg and Vera Szoellosi-Brenig at the VW Foundation, who deserve special mention for their active support and commitment in helping me finalize this project.
Over the years during which this book was first conceptualized and subsequently came to fruition, many persons provided feedback at conferences or in seminars. I extend my gratitude to them all. For more extensive inputs, I am grateful to Harald Braun, Petr Dvorak, Nicolas Faucher, Daniel Heider, Jean-Pascal Gay, Robert Pasnau, Dominik Perler, Nicole Reinhardt, Jacob Schmutz, Daniel Schwartz—and two anonymous Brill reviewers. Of course, none of them is responsible for how I ultimately dealt with their comments.
Significant help came from librarians at: the Jesuit Archives in Rome (ARSI), Biblioteca Brera, Biblioteca Corsiniana, Bibliothek der Hochschule St. Georgen (Frankfurt), The Cathedral Library of Toledo, Württembergische Landesbibliothek.
Thanks also goes to Niki Rodousakis, who revised the English text of this book, Sabrina Scharndke, who helped with the index, and to Arjan van Dijk and Ivo Romein at Brill for their efficient handling of the project.
Finally, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to my partner Iana Kouris for all the years of love and support I received from her during the gestation of this project. Fortunately, I do not need to apologize for the long working hours I invested in this project—after all, hers are not any shorter.