ABSTRACT
I HAVE BEEN ASKED to provide an informal introduction to this collection of articles, translations, and essays I have prepared over the past several decades. In the case of those who follow academic pursuits, it seems to me, one is seldom asked to stop and reflect on the development of one's own intellectual enthusiasms, and so I have undertaken this effort with a certain amount of reticence. Nevertheless, perhaps this brief account will be of some use, perhaps as a cautionary tale, if nothing else, for those who may share my interests in the topics I have begun to explore, and, more importantly, might like to develop some of them further.
