Preface. Theory and Basic Principles. Theory of Imaging in Near-Field Microscopy; J.J. Greffet, R. Carminati. Light Scattering by Tips in Front of Surfaces; A. Madrazo, et al. A Numerical Study of a Model Near-Field Optical Microscope; A.A. Maradudin, et al. Short and Long Range Interactions in Near Field Optics; O. Keller. Modelling Optical Resonators Probed by Subwavelength Sized Optical Detectors; A. Castiaux, et al. Experiments: Fundamentals and Applications. Instrumentation in Near Field Optics; D. Courjon, et al. Effect of the Coherence in Near Field Microscopy; F. de Fornel, et al. Scanning Interferometric Apertureless Microscopy at Ten Angstrom Resolution; H.K. Wickramasinghe, et al. Primary Imaging Modes in Near-Field Microscopy; M. Vaez-Iravani. Local Excitation of Surface Plasmons by TNOM; B. Hecht, et al. Weak Localization of Surface Plasmon Polaritons: Direct Observation with Photon Scanning Tunneling Microscope; S.I. Bozhevolnyi, et al. STM-Induced Photon Emission from Au (110); R. Berndt. Writing of Nanolines on a Ferroelectric Surface with a Scanning Near-Field Optical Microscope; J. Massanell, et al. Near Field Optics with High-Q Whispering Gallery Modes; N. Dubreuil, et al. Fluorescence Microscopy and Spectroscopy by Scanning Near- Field Optical/Atomic Force Microscope (SNOM-AFM); M. Fujihira. Fluorescence Lifetime Contrast Combined with Probe Microscopy; O.H. Willemsen, et al. Towards SNIM: Scanning Near-Field Microscopy in the Infrared; F. Keilmann. 6 NM Lateral Resolution in Scanning Near Field Optical Microscopy with the Tetrahedral Tip; J. Koglin, et al. An Aperture-Type Reflection-Mode SNOM; C. Durkan, I.V. Shvets. Surface Modifications Via Photo-Chemistry in a Reflection Scanning Near-Field Optical Microscope; S. Madsen, et al. Near-Field Diffraction Microscopy with a Coherent Low-Energy e-Beam: Fresnel Projection Microscope; V.T. Binh, et al. Author Index. Subject Index.