This book was written over a long period of time, so that several people and institutes were naturally involved in its creation. The preparatory work and the writing of the first sections took place in the academic year 2008â2009 at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Studies (NIAS, Wassenaar), as part of a larger research project (Discourses of Meditation, 1400â1700) in which ten scholars from the United States, France, Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands participated under the direction of Reindert Falkenburg (Art History, NYU) and the author. I would like to thank the NIAS for hosting and generously funding the research group. The book Die Stiftung von Autorschaft in der neulateinischen Literatur has benefited greatly from the daily dialogue with the team members and other scholars who worked then at the NIAS. In addition, the present volume profited from several interdisciplinary book projects which were started during the NIAS year (in the framework of the series Intersections. Interdisciplinary Studies in Early Modern Culture, Scientia universalis, Supplementa Humanistica Lovaniensia and Noctes Neolatinae), especially (1) Meditatio â Refashioning of the Self. Theory and Practice in Late Medieval and Early Modern Intellectual Culture (eds. Enenkel â Melion); (2) The Authority of the Word: Reflecting on Image and Text in Northern Europe, 1400â1700 (eds. Enenkel â Melion); (3) Die Vita als Vermittlerin von Wissenschaft und Werk. Form- und Funktionsanalytische Untersuchungen zu frühneuzeitlichen Biographien von Gelehrten, Wissenschaftlern, Schriftstellern und Künstlern (eds. Enenkel â Zittel); (4) Commentaries and the Management of Knowledge in the Late Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period (1300â1700) (eds. Enenkel â Nellen); and (5) Discourses of Power. Ideology and Politics in Neo-Latin Literature (eds. Enenkel â Laureys â Pieper). I would like to take this opportunity to thank my co-editors and co-authors for their extraordinarily fruitful and stimulating collaboration, especially Walter Melion, Claus Zittel, Henk Nellen, Marc Laureys and Christoph Pieper. I am indebted to Leiden University for generously granting two research sabbaticals, and to the Leids Universitair Fonds (LUF) for financial and other support for my Chair of Neo-Latin Literature. I would particularly like to thank the University of Münster for including the project in the Cluster of Excellence Religion and Politics when I moved from Leiden to Münster and for their generous support, including the awarding of two extra-rotational research semesters as Principal investigator which enabled me to complete the book project in 2010â2012.
The present English edition is a completely revised and augmented version of the book which has been originally written in German. For the correction of my English I want to thank Meredith MacGroarty. Also, the edition has been profited by the revision of the Figures which can be provided now in a much better quality. Not only the text was augmented but also the Figures which were enriched by the addition of numerous splendid images. For technical help with the illustrations I am grateful to the assistant of my chair, Dr. Lukas Reddemann. For help with the adaptation of the bibliography I want to thank my student assistants Carina Schlüppmann and Jannik Wiethoff called Riemann.
It is obvious that a book that deals to a large extent with book dedications cannot be released into the world without a dedication; it would âlack a headâ, as early modern writers would say. I take this pleasant duty as an opportunity to dedicate the book to my wife Henriette, with whom I share, among many other things, a love of neo-Latin literature and the conviction that sometimes, longer journeys are necessary if you want to reach your goal.
Leiden, Kalendis Julii MMXXV