Why acknowledgements?

IF SOURCES — books, articles, interviews, newspapers, graphical images, etc. — provide some of the voices in that intellectual conversation we call knowledge, then citations of those sources reveal the autobiographies or ideas of some people.

Citations indicate what we have read, how we have come to our views; they tell the story of our intellectual journeys.

Although the media of knowledge have changed over time, from handwritten medieval codices to printed books, from academic journals to electronic Web sites, the practice of authors leaving autobiographical traces by citing sources has long remained an essential feature of the life of knowledge.

Why should we acknowledge our sources, those other voices in the conversation in which we participate as a listener?

• Citations reflect the careful and thorough work we have put into locating and exploring our sources.

• Citations are a courtesy to the reader, who may share our interest in a particular area of knowledge. They help readers understand the context of our argument, and locate our work within other conversations on our topic.

• Citations allow us to acknowledge those authors who made possible particular aspects of our work. Failure to provide adequate citations constitutes plagiarism.

• Citations, by delineating our intellectual debts, also draw attention to the originality and legitimacy of our own ideas. As one historian of the footnote has observed, citations "confer authority" on the writer

By citing sources, then, we demonstrate our integrity and skill as a responsible participant in the conversation of knowledge.

• We are particularly grateful to him for the light he has cast on the relationship between myth and reality in acknowledgement of kindred spirit: "Spiritus Mundi" - Our debt to him is and will be more than apparent in the course of this website. "Qu'il sache avoir l'humilité du Hérault"

• We should like to thank few organisations and people for the access provided to their material and for their sympathiy and understanding.

Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division.
The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.
Louis-Maurice Boutet de Monvel.
Mrs. Cecil Sherman Baker
Howard Lehman Goodhart
Seymour Adelman Fund
Adelaide Brooks Baylis
Bryn Mawr College Archives, Special Collections.

Finally, we should like to thank all the contributors of this idea, "Ils se reconnaitrons..."et non pas ""Dieu reconnaîtra les siens"...

And it goes without saying, we should like to thank our ladies- J&A.

Please do not hesitate to contact us

jehanlascuiz@serreorg.com