Text: Elizabeth Wiley, “Acknowledgments,” Concordance of the Poetry of Edgar Allan Poe, (1989), p. 6 (This material is protected by copyright)

[page 6:]

Acknowledgments

This book is the first product of a research project begun nine years ago by a Poe enthusiast with no experience preparing a concordance or, indeed, even a basic knowledge of using computers. Without the assistance and encouragement of many people — some (but by no means all) of whom are mentioned here — it would not have come into being.

Many Poe scholars have expressed an interest in the project over the years, most notably Professor Benjamin Franklin Fisher IV, without whose constant support and frequent assistance the work might have been abandoned.

Extensive computer projects are both time-consuming and costly. I am greatly indebted to the Susquehanna University administration for encouraging my work and providing substantial material support over the years. Whatever I know about creating a concordance by computer I owe to the Susquehanna Computer Center and its patient, helpful staff. Steven Herrold, the director of faculty research, worked with the project constantly, writing programs and overseeing each step. In a very real sense, this is his work.

My colleagues in the English Department have maintained a friendly interest in this project, at times picking up additional responsibilities during my sabbatical leaves. In the final preparation of this volume a number of them voluntarily assisted in a marathon group reading of the manuscript; I can never adequately repay their contributions to the project. They have truly demonstrated the meaning of a community of scholars.

Over the years I have had the assistance of many students (both undergraduate and graduate) in the basic work of data entry and editing. The text for this book was entered by John Stoudt, M.A., and my editorial assistant in many stages of the work has been Deborah Bernhisel, M.A. Some of the final editing was done by Judith Feldman. All of them worked meticulously and efficiently, demonstrating a genuine concern for the project's success. I hope they may feel some satisfaction in the result of their noble efforts.

When I recognize my indebtedness to those individuals already mentioned, my ultimate benefactors, of course, are the original genius of the work, Edgar Allan Poe, and the outstanding scholar on whose edition of the poetry the concordance is based, the late Professor Thomas Ollive Mabbott. I would like to thank The Harvard University Press for permitting me to use this edition for the concordance.