I would like to thank Fulbright College of the University of Arkansas, including Dean Bill Schwab, for funding my year at Cambridge University to write this translation and I would like to thank Wolfson College, in its tradition of enlightened generosity, for hosting and making a very good year available to my wife and me. Among the many new friends who made our experience at Cambridge delightful, Wolfson librarian Anna Jones must be singled out for her patience in making sure I had the books and the library connections I needed for the translation, as well as Robert Amundsen, Edward Johnson, and Tony Lenten, all three of whose generous support and criticism were invaluable.
I would like to thank Peter Haidu, Sarah Kay, and William Kibler for their helpful comments on early drafts. Thank you, Kay DuVal, for your astute criticism and inspired suggestions through
every draft of the translation. Also, much thanks goes to Martin Kauffman for an unforgettable afternoon at the Bodleian Library, Oxford, showing us the Roland manuscript and telling us all
about it. Thank you, Hackett editor Deborah Wilkes; your encouragement and the wisdom with which you have overseen this project from beginning to end have been invaluable. Thank you, project
editor Mary Vasquez, for taking care of all these last-minute, hurry-up details. Thank you, David Staines, for your detailed editing; you have saved me from embarrassing mistakes. Many good
moves come at your suggestion and whatever infelicities remain in the translation are all mine. Finally, again, thanks to the DuVal-Smith-Quigley-Wong clan for making my life a joy.
John DuVal
Fayetteville, 2012