Thinking of the text from the Dies frae (S. Matthew, XXV, 40). It is also probable that this other Saint Francis, partly out of admiration for his illustrious compatriot of Assisi and partly from a compelling urge to be superlative in all things, chose the title in opposition to the Franciscans, the Fratres Minori, l who had previously adopted this style taken from Saint Matthew, XXIII, 8. The title "Minim" was confirmed in these words" ... eosque Eremitos Ordinis Minimorum Fratrum Eremitarum F. Francesci de Paula in posterum nuncupari," taken from the Papal Bull, Meritis religiosae vitae, of 26 February, 1493. The earliest reference to the Order in France is in a fragment preserved in the Bibliotheque de l'Arsenal called, La regle et vie de Frere Franfois, pauvre et humble hermite de Paule, laquelle donne a tous ses 2 freres voulant entrer et vivre en son ordre. The dating of this manuscript should be accepted with considerable reserve; it bears a clearly legible "1474," although it seems most unlikely that any reference to an Order occurred before the Bull of 1493 or that any Rule appeared in French before the Founder's visit to Louis XI in 1483. 3 The fame of Francis and his reputation as a "guerisseur" had reached the French court where Louis XI was sick and dying; the King summoned him to the chateau of Le Plessis-Ies-Tours, but it required the intervention of the Pope to make the hermit undertake the journey

Documents and the History of the Early Islamic World presents new Greek, Arabic and Coptic material from the seventh to the fifteenth centuries C.E. from Egypt and Palestine and explores its rich potential for historical analysis.

My greatest debt in the writing of this book is to my teacher Dr. Ulrich Middeldorf, who taught me the methodology of research in art history, and who guided my studies of art theory and criticism. This study, which in an earlier form was accepted as a doctoral dissertation by the University of Chicago, was begun under Dr. Middeldorf's guidance, and during all stages of its preparation I benefited from his invaluable suggestions and criticism. A United States Government Grant enabled me to complete my researches on Rembrandt in the Netherlands, where I studied at the Rijksuniversiteit te Utrecht with Dr. J.G. van Gelder, who was particularly generous with his knowledge and time. He read the manuscript and proofs, and offered numerous suggestions and additions which have been of great benefit to me. Special acknowledgement is made to the Kunsthistorisch lnstituut der Rijksuniversiteit te Utrecht for generously finding a place for this study in the Utrechtse Bij dragen tot de Kunstgeschiedenis. I am also much indebted to Dr. H. Schulte Nordholt of the Kunsthistorisch lnstituut for his valuable advice and his help inseeing the book through the press.

"This is a book just the way I don't like them," the father of French Symbolism, StŽphane MallarmŽ, informs the reader in his preface to Divagations: "scattered and with no architecture." On the heels of this caveat, MallarmŽ's diverting, discursive, and gorgeously disordered 1897 masterpiece tumbles forth--and proves itself to be just the sort of book his readers like most. The salmagundi of prose poems, prose-poetic musings, criticism, and reflections that is Divagations has long been considered a treasure trove by students of aesthetics and modern poetry. If MallarmŽ captured the tone and very feel of fin-de-sicle Paris, he went on to captivate the minds of the greatest writers of the twentieth century--from ValŽry and Eliot to Paul de Man and Jacques Derrida. This was the only book of prose he published in his lifetime and, in a new translation by Barbara Johnson, is now available for the first time in English as MallarmŽ arranged it. The result is an entrancing work through which a notoriously difficult-to-translate voice shines in all of its languor and musicality. Whether contemplating the poetry of Tennyson, the possibilities of language, a masturbating priest, or the transporting power of dance, MallarmŽ remains a fascinating companion--charming, opinionated, and pedantic by turns. As an expression of the Symbolist movement and as a contribution to literary studies, Divagations is vitally important. But it is also, in Johnson's masterful translation, endlessly mesmerizing.

The author recounts his experiences in building collections of rare books and manuscripts of French literature, and reveals little-known facts about French artists, composers, and writers.