In the last decades of the twentieth century, North American drama has powerfully enacted the problematic notions of cultural memory and identity, as the essays assembled in this critical anthology demonstrate. Echoing Derrida's non-essentialist interpretation of the term «signature», this collection provides an innovative focus on North American theatre and drama as a site of latent cultural memories. In this volume, the concept of cultural memory offers a privileged vantage point from which to redefine issues of diasporic identities, exilic predicaments, and multi-ethnic subject positions at the dawn of a new century. Playwrights examined here include noted Canadian and US artists such as Marie Clements, Eva Ensler, Lorraine Hansberry, Tomson Highway, Cherríe Moraga, Djanet Sears, Guillermo Verdecchia, August Wilson, and Chay Yew, to cite but a few. In the process of remembering, North American dramatists develop new aesthetic modes in which the signatures of the past merge with the present and foreshadow an imagined future.

Take an excursion into the secret past of America through the signatures of prigs and perverts, poets and presidents. Hamilton was an autograph dealer and auctioneer, and he gives background on some of the most interesting pieces in his collection.

The search for the soul of place is one of my passions as traveler, writer, and writing teacher. My work is often inspired by places: islands, ruins, old houses and buildings, and the atmospheres found there. For several years, I have been researching the "genius loci," the spirit or soul of place. The Romans and the Etruscans believed that every place--every mountain, field, body of water--had an indwelling spirit or soul, which was beneficial or harmful to human activity. And every house and household was believed to have a tutelary spirit. The soul of place was a force which shaped the character and atmosphere of a place and at the same time, an entity with which human beings were constantly interacting and communicating. This idea has stimulated me for a long time, and it has greatly influenced my writing.

Applies new methodological approaches to the study of ancient history

John Castagno's Artists' Signatures and Monograms have become the standard reference source for galleries, museums, libraries, and collectors around the world. Whether used to identify, authenticate, or verify signatures and works of both well-known and little-known artists, Castagno's work has no equal. In the first volume of European Artists Signatures and Monograms, 1800-1990 (Scarecrow, 1990), Castagno provided identification for more than 4,800 artists' signatures, along with biographical information and reference sources. The second volume, published by Scarecrow in 2007, identified an additional 2,100 artists and featured 3,000 signature examples. This third volume features an additional 2,800 artists and signatures. In addition to the standard signature entries, the book features sections for monograms and initials, common surname signatures, alternative surname signatures, and illegible signatures. Less than five percent of the entries in this volume are listed in the original volumes--and these are included to provide additional information about the artists. The use of European Artists III: Signatures and Monograms From 1800, A Directory provides the researcher a reference tool not duplicated elsewhere--one that will save many hours of research.

"This book attempts to make a comprehensive, interdisciplinary case for a new view of the origin of life"--Prologue.