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EDITOR'S FOREWORD at Borobudur) formally it makes a cogent and prodigious statement. The whole is conceived primarily as an introduction to the subject, each chapter leading to the next, and not as a handbook; but I have supplied cross-references and Mr. William McGuire has prepared a copious index, to serve the reader wishing to study any separate topic. Guidance to further reading will be found in the bibliography and in the titles cited in the footnotes.
My profound thanks go to Swami Nikhilananda for hind permission to quote extensively from his translation of The Gospel of Sri Rāmakrishna, to Doña Luisa Coomaraswany for Plates I, II, III, V, IX, X, and XII, Dr. Stella Kramrisch for Plates VIII and Xi, and Dr. Marguerite Block for Plate Vla. The Metropolitan Museum of Art kindly supplied Plates IV and Vlb, the Morgan Library Plate Vic, and the Asia Institute Plate VII. I owe much, moreover, to Mrs. Wallace Ferguson for assistance in the final editing of the manuscript, to Miss Elizabeth Sherbon for three years of tireless and painstaking typing, to Mr. William McGuire for his meticulous editing of the proofs and for his above-mentioned index, and to my wife for all her hours of listening and for unberless suggestions.
J. C. New York City March 20, 1951
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