ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I am grateful for the loving support of my husband, Parkes, my son Marlow, and my daughter Elizabeth, who read the manuscript and offered valuable criticism. I also owe much to the intelligent insight of my editor, Carole Baron, and the encouragement and wisdom of my agent, Jean Naggar.

As always, among the great pleasures of working on a book with a widerange of historical sources are the hours spent in splendid libraries. I am particularly appreciative of the outstanding medieval resources of the Henry E. Huntington Library of San Marino, California, where a large part of the background research for this book was completed. I would also like to thank the Honnold Library of the Claremont Colleges and the Pomona City Library. But most especially, I wish to acknowledge the contribution of the Francis Bacon Foundation Library, for it is from the pages of its alchemical collection that the Green Lion leapt whole one sunny fall morning.