The publisher expresses deep appreciation for the many thoughtful letters praising Stanley Roseman and the Dance - Drawings from the Paris Opéra. In quoting from several letters here, the publisher heartily thanks all those who have graciously written about the book.   

''Drawing and dance seem to be naturally related systems of gesture, and in his introduction Mr. Roseman nicely describes the flow and gradations of touch which distinguish both systems of expression. The book is an extremely handsome presentation of Mr. Roseman's drawings of the Opéra dancers, and the exhibition that is commemorated by the poster must have been a special occasion.''

''This work on this important artist has the potential of providing our patrons with several benefits. It will interest both lovers of dance and of drawing. It will provide a look at works which span several collections, and which are available for viewing in several cities. It provides a glimpse into the artistry of the Opéra and of several dance companies which may be experienced the world over. Lastly, it provides the artist's own overview of his art, methods, and inspiration.''

''Stanley Roseman and the Dance - Drawings from the Paris Opéra represents a valuable and informative addition to our collection, as well as being so aesthetically pleasing. Undoubtedly, this resource will be used by a wide range of our users.''

''Given Mr. Roseman's distinguished and fascinating career, this book will be a prized addition to the collection.''

''I am writing to inform you that the Library has received Stanley Roseman and the Dance - Drawings from the Paris Opéra. We are most pleased to include this handsome book in the collection of the Art and Music Department.

''Just wanted to let you know that we have been enjoying the copy of Stanley Roseman and the Dance - Drawings from the Paris Opéra…. It has been added to our Special Collections department and has been appreciated by a number of customers already.''

''This book will be lovingly appreciated by the scholars of dance who visit us for many years to come.''

''We are delighted to add the book to our collection. The drawings on the dance at the Paris Opéra are exciting works and vastly different from other monographs in our art collection. This book will become a part of the Moses Fine Arts Special Collection that includes books and portfolios of many artists. Stanley Roseman's works are a superb complement to that collection.

"I am truly enchanted with the action and life of the drawings, and I found myself captivated by Roseman's work.... I commend you on producing such a splendid book: two artists, one work.

"Our new $23 million facility will be complete by November 2001. If you have an opportunity to visit us, I would be happy to give you a private tour and show you the home of Stanley Roseman and the Dance - Drawings from the Paris Opéra.''

     The Teyler Museum conserves the superb drawings: Kader Belarbi, Paris Opéra Ballet, La Bayadère; and Howard Buten as ''Buffo,'' Ranelagh Theatre, reproduced in Stanley Roseman and the Dance - Drawings from the Paris Opéra, (Plate 81 and fig. 3, respectively). The Teyler Museum, in the northern Dutch city of Haarlem, is renowned for its outstanding collection of Master Drawings from the Italian Renaissance, which includes sheets by Michelangelo and Raphael, and from the seventeenth-century Dutch school, notably prints and drawings by Rembrandt.

     Upon receiving a gift copy of Stanley Roseman and the Dance - Drawings from the Paris Opéra from the artist and the publisher, the Director of the Teyler Museum writes in letter with great enthusiasm:

''What a surprise for me and what a satisfaction. I want to react on the spot and want to thank you both for the beautiful gift. Of course I had seen some of the ballet drawings and I had in mind an idea of the work (six years long) done by you, Stanley. But I could not imagine the works together show so much vitality and differentiation, and experimental vision also.''

     Carel van Tuyll, Keeper of Prints and Drawings of the Teyler Museum, also wrote to Roseman with enthusiasm and appreciation in acquiring the artist's work on a variety of subjects for the collection. In reference to the present works, Carel van Tuyll writes in letter of ''the two beautiful drawings:''

    ''The Buffo (Howard Buten) is a wonderful and deeply felt portrait, while the line drawing of Kader Belarbi in 'La Bayadère' adds a whole new and exciting aspect to the representation of your work in the collection.''

     In acknowledging a gift copy of the book, the Keeper of Prints and Drawings writes again to Roseman:

    ''Can't believe a week has already gone by - and I still haven't written to thank Ronald and you for that great evening we spent with you both. It's hard to choose what made it most memorable: the warm welcome, the fine Chinese meal, the great drawings we looked at and selected together, or the wonderful book you presented to us of your work on the dance. A heartfelt thank you for all these good things! The book is a joy and so beautifully produced. I have read your preface with great interest and admiration.

"Again many thanks to Ronald and you for your hospitality and for the splendid book.''

     ''MAGNIFICENT! SPECTACULAR! My heartfelt congratulations for creating such a FANTASTIC book. I am totally OVERWHELMED and of course thrilled for you both. That is a huge undertaking to print such a work and I wish you much success. Thank you for presenting me with such a priceless book! I will cherish it always. I feel privileged to have so many of your magnificent dance drawings, not to mention all of the other works I have from you too.''

     ''You have taken my breath away!

     ''What a wonderful work was created with the drawings from the Paris Opéra! Your breath stands still for a while when you go through all the particular pages and look at the whole outset. Really marvellous. As usual your great care even for the details doesn't escape the observer.… In the first place I congratulate you and Ronald on this outstanding oeuvre. In the second place I wish this break-through will bring you that success which you both have been deserving for so long. Many, many thanks for your generosity and kind consideration, also on behalf of all my family."

     ''I received your book today. It is so very beautiful. I had not realized how extensive the drawings are. One is more captivating than the previous one. They are beautiful. I have even sat with Aiden [the collector's young son] for a while to look through it together. The book is giving us a lot of pleasure to see these drawings. I really appreciate this collection.''

     ''Your magnificent book arrived today, and I can't find words to tell you how thrilled I am to have it. The drawings are so beautiful…I am in awe of your work. The collection will give me many, many hours of joy. I thank you for sending me such a unique treasure.''

In a letter two years later, Bea writes:

     ''Your beautiful book has never left the coffee-table in my living room --- not relegated to the bookshelves. Yesterday a friend picked it up and after looking at every page, decided that she would like to buy a copy for herself. Please tell me how and where to buy it.''

     ''What a fine surprise to receive your gorgeous book today! You made me a great joy!

     ''I received your wonderful book. It is delightful to read and especially to admire the beautiful drawings again and again.''

     ''When I opened your parcel, I was just overwhelmed. Congratulations to both of  you. The book is really a masterpiece!''

     "The book is Wonderful! Really Fabulous!"

     Two Monks Bowing,  Abbey of Solesmes, France, 1979, is reproduced in the introductory text, where Roseman speaks about the importance of drawing in his work, as with the monastic life - an ecumenical work the artist created in monasteries of monks and nuns of  the Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran faiths. Roseman drew Two Monks Bowing, chalks on paper, during the Divine Office at the Abbey of Solesmes, renowned for its study and restoration of Gregorian chant.

    Abbot Jean Prou, a leading churchman of his time, maintained an ongoing correspondence over the years with the artist and his colleague Ronald Davis, and the Abbot warmly welcomed them on their return sojourns at the monastery. Dom Prou was Abbot of Solesmes from 1959-1992 and Abbot Emeritus until his death in 1999, a few days before his 88th birthday.

      In 1998, in a gracious letter to Stanley Roseman, Dom Jean Prou writes:

''I have just returned from a sojourn in Martinique, where are two monasteries of our Congregation on that island in the Antilles. And I found the magnificent book of your drawings on the dance at the Paris Opéra.

"The book is a very beautiful gift, for which I thank you personally, but also in the name of our present Father Abbot and all of our community.

"What strikes me the most about your drawings is that the 'movement' of the dancers is, as it were, rendered in a living way. One believes, in looking at your drawings, that one is present at a live performance of the dancers whom you have drawn at the very moment they leap or take a position.

"With my congratulations, I assure you very cordially of my admiration.''

     In further correspondence with Roseman that year, the Abbot Emeritus of Solesmes writes about the relationship between the artist's drawings on the dance and his work on the monastic life:

''Dear Stanley,

"Dancers of the Opéra and monks are people who are very different and who, certainly, lead a very different life-style, but that does not prevent you from being interested in a very serious and very steadfast way in those two kinds of artistic expressions and life-styles, for each group - the dancers and the monks - cultivate with care, and, I think, put all their heart into the art that is theirs. For one, it is a visual art that strives towards a beautiful human fulfillment and contributes toward heightening the spirit; for the other, a spiritual art that strives towards a greater union with God and to obtain the graces for our world. The two disciplines demand much effort and perseverance. Your artist's soul has made you interested in both dancers and monks and strives to express them in the most profound way.

"I ask God that the rapport you have with the monastic life grant you His favors for the well-being of your soul, and the same for Ronald, who is totally devoted to you and who always shows us, like you, much kindness. My prayers for you both are the only way that I can show you my friendship and my gratitude.

"In looking forward to the pleasure of seeing you again, dear Stanley and dear Ronald, I express again all my friendship.''

From a teacher of the artist

     To conclude, the publisher would like to quote a letter to Stanley Roseman from a teacher with whom he had maintained a deep friendship over the years. What is extraordinary is that the teacher, Lola Goldberg, was the artist's kindergarten teacher. Lola Goldberg was a highly respected member of the New York City Public Education System for forty years. Lola and her husband Samuel Goldberg were two of Roseman's earliest collectors when he embarked on his professional career, and their great encouragement over the years meant very much to him. Lola Goldberg was extremely well-read on a wide range of subject matter, and she and her husband traveled extensively around the world in their retirement years. Despite a growing physical frailty as she approached her one-hundredth birthday, Lola Goldberg retained a clear and lucid mind, which she credited to her lifelong passion for books and the many hours she spent reading.

''Dear Stanley,
        
"I am overwhelmed by your sumptuous gift - for two reasons. One: - It is a magnificent showing of some of your great accomplishments. And, two: - It called to my mind a five-year-old boy who even then was a beautiful and innocent soul who, so many years later, now shows the genius of that same soul - still shining, still so pure!
              
"Can you have any idea how many hearts you have enriched?
              
"You are truly among the blessed - while I am so fortunate to know you and to have always loved you.''

    "Your drawings are superb. Motion, light, dynamics just in one single drawing. You see the dancer in front of you, not as a quiet model but in his movement. My heart can really see the dancer in his action. Furthermore, I have realized an interesting effect: If you let the pages slide through one hand holding it by the other you assist at a performance of a ballet. Everything is in motion. Exciting!

     "Your book on the drawings from the Paris Opéra is a masterpiece. It is not only a masterpiece by reason of the drawings, but it is a masterpiece of book design and manufacture. You and Ronald must be very proud. I would think it would be a very popular addition to the collection of anyone interested in drawing, as well as anyone interested in ballet. I will treasure it.''

     "Stanley's drawings are marvellous and the book is an outstanding achievement. Congratulations."

     The museum's first acquisition of drawings by Roseman, in 1986, was two chalk drawings from his work on the monastic life. In making the acquisition, the Director of the Teyler Museum, Eric Ebbinge, writes that Roseman's drawings ''will enrich the existing collection of drawings in the most significant way'' and that ''the 'Rembrandtesque' (if one may call them so) qualities of the portrait of Sister Immaculata, in particular, would take on an added dimension in the context of the Dutch drawings in the Teyler collection.''

     The present work exemplifies Roseman's virtuoso draughtsmanship in the use of the graphite pencil. Here the artist captures with swift, fluid pencil strokes star dancer Kader Belarbi as the noble Indian warrior Solor taking a spinning leap in the classical ballet La Bayadère.

     This spiritual work, created in the enlightenment of Vatican II, was acquired in 1981 by the distinguished museum director J. Carter Brown for the collection of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. The drawing was featured in a laudatory review of the artist's work in The Times, London.