I owe an immense debt to Professor Alan MacGowan, without whom I would have been quite `at sea’ with many of the maritime references in Captains Courageous. The chance to draw upon Alan’s scholarship and accumulated knowledge has been invaluable and it would be hard to thank him enough. Commander Alastair Wilson, Editor of The Naval Review, has also helped greatly on specialist naval matters.
Among the other individuals and institutions to whom I should like to express gratitude are The Pierpont Morgan Library and their Librarian, Katherine Reagan, The University of Sussex Library Manuscripts Section, The National Maritime Museum Library, Professor Janet Bately, Dr Caroline Dorée, Dr Peter Moore, the late David Proctor, Martin Brady, John Gross, Lawrence Hughes, Niels Jannasch, Roger Quarm and, of course, my husband, Richard Ormond. The late Andrew Rutherford, the General Editor for Oxford World Classics was a wonderful editor, understanding about my delays and always able to point me in the right direction.
Leonee Ormond, July 2003