Finally, a special vote of thanks must go to Andrew Clements for reading through the first version of my text and for suggesting improvements, and I am grateful to Barry Fogden for pointing out an inaccuracy in the text, now corrected.

Please note that where Bridge's letters have been quoted, their original punctuation and spelling has been retained. The Britten-Pears Foundation has kindly given permission for the quotations from the first two volumes of Donald Mitchell and Philip Reed's Letters from a Life: Selected Letters and Diaries of Benjamin Britten (Faber, 1991). Mr. J. Coolidge in the USA has likewise given permission to reproduce an extract from one of Mrs Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge's letters to Bridge. These may not be reproduced further without written permission.

A Personal Note

Much of this text was written during the early 1980s and it thus represents the position of Bridge research at that time. Several publishers showed interest in the original manuscript but in the event declined publication. Other writing projects attracted my attention and the manuscript was shelved. Fifteen or so years later, John Bishop, for a long time the Administrator of the Frank Bridge Trust, decided to publish the text as it stands now. The basic approach and the tone of my original version had been his suggestion, and over the years he was unfailingly helpful in matters relating to Bridge. However, unfortunately he died during the production on my text in hard copy. I should like, therefore, to dedicate this text to his memory.