I cannot recall whether it was James Branch Cabell or Vincent Starrett
who first directed me to the works of Arthur Machen. I am deeply grateful
to both, not only for this, but for their encouraging letters concerning
my book.
To Montgomery Evans and Paul Jordan-Smith for their enthusiasm and
interest, their intimate sketches of Machen, and for facts not available
elsewhere. To Carl Van Vechten and Robert Hillyer for their articles on
Machen, parts of which are quoted herein.
To Joseph Kelly Vodrey and Paul Seybolt for their informative and helpful
letters, and to Nathan Van Patten whose bibliographical labors lightened
my own. To Meyer Berger for his notes on the Mons affair, and to
_Harper’s Bazaar_ for permission to quote from them. To the late Alfred
Goldsmith and his delightful reminiscences of Machen. To all of these I
am deeply grateful.
To Alfred A. Knopf for permission to quote from the Machen books bearing
the Borzoi imprint, and for having published them in the first place. To
Robert McBride & Co. for permission to quote from _The Terror_, and to
Dodd, Mead & Co. for permission to quote from _More Authors and I_.
To Hilary Machen for his courtesy in handling my proofs at Amersham and,
finally, to Arthur Machen for the ‘plenary blessing’ he gave this book.