Alone of All Her Sex [antikvár]

I am very grateful to the staff of the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., who helped me use their vast resources and allotted me a desk of my own; to Mrs. Southcote Aston, of the Princeton Index of Christian Art at Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, who allowed me to work in its invaluable files; and to the staff of the London Library, who are unfailingly kind. So many friends helped me with advice and encouragement, with debate and dissent, that I could not begin to name every one of them. But in particular I want to express my profound gratitude to John Roberts, who gave me matchless advice before I embarked on the book and illuminating criticisms of the finished manuscript; to Caroline Elam, who also read the manuscript and gave me generously of her knowledge and perception. I also wish to thank Jonathan Sumption, who read several chapters and redressed my woeful ignorance in many areas; and David Esterly, whose far-ranging reading deepened my understanding of many facets of Marian imagery. To all of them I owe many ideas and many escapes from error; the imperfections that now remain are all my own. Peter Brown's wisdom was a great source of inspiration to me, and I am also deeply grateful to Father Eamonn Carroll, O.C., Father Peter Levi, S.J., Sister Benedicta Ward, O.L.G., Dr. Rosemary Radford Ruether, Verity Saifullah Khan, Tony Smith, Peter Jenkins, Polly Toynbee, Nick and Anne Zill, Sebastian Walker, and Chris-tiane Besse, all of whom gave me rich bibliographical references, pressed appropriate books and iconographie material on me, or stimulated my thoughts by their questions. It is impossible to express fully how much I appreciated their interest. I alone am responsible for the use made of the material and I hope it will not give undue offence. I thank also my sister, Laura Warner, who patiently translated Greek material for me. The staffs of many galleries and museums, the sacristans of many churches, and the curators of shrines have often been extremely kind. I would like to express my particular gratitude to Pere Valentin of the Abbey of Montserrat and to Ted Amussen of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Above all, my thanks are due to Christopher Falkus for his original inspiration and enthusiasm throughout, to Gila Curtis for her invaluable help in the later stages, and to Carol Brown Janeway for her editorial comments and advice. Although it may seem an act of perversity in a book about a Catholic cult, I have used the King James Authorized Version of the Bible. Its imagery and its cadences are so integral to the English language and its strength and beauty so marked that I could not pass it over. Where a divergence between the Authorized Version and the Catholic interpréta-