Emerson Among the Eccentrics: A Group PortraitViking, 1996 - 608 pages "When Carlos Baker died in 1987, he had completed all but the finishing touches on what will be considered his masterpiece. An esteemed literary critic and mentor to several generations of younger scholars, Carlos Baker had a lifelong interest in the writers of the American Renaissance, particularly in Ralph Waldo Emerson, its intellectual centerpiece, but also in Henry David Thoreau, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Amos Bronson Alcott, and Margaret Fuller, all of whom made Concord a mecca for American intellectuals, with Emerson undoubtedly its foremost citizen. Lucky for us that in his last years Carlos Baker poured his resources, wisdom, and affections into this remarkable book." "Emerson Among the Eccentrics is that rarest of accomplishments: a magnificent biography that functions equally as a group portrait and a highly detailed reconstruction of an entire area. Carlos Baker was indefatigable in going through all of the principal characters, journals, and correspondence to reconstruct, minutely, entire days; the result is a vivid and textured mosaic not just of the group's interrelationships but of their daily lives - what they ate, what they wore, what they did for entertainment, what they valued and what they did not, how they "managed" life. All of this, though, went to serve Baker's larger aim and hope of bringing Emerson to life in his quotidian relationships: as young man and old; husband, father, son, and brother; preacher, lecturer, editor, and clubman; farmer, householder, host, and guest."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved |
Contents
THE BROTHERS | 3 |
from Abigail Alcott to Samuel J May 59M305 25 and a journal of A Bronson Alcott 59M308 17 | 17 |
ISHMAEL ABROAD | 23 |
Copyright | |
50 other sections not shown
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
ABA Jrnls Abel Adams admiration American Anna April asked August beautiful Boston Bronson Alcott Brook Farm brother Brown called Caroline Sturgis Charles child Concord daughter Dial divine Divinity School Address Edith Elizabeth Hoar Elizabeth Peabody Ellen Ellery Channing Ellery's Emer England essay ETE Letters eyes father feel Forbes friendship genius Harvard Hawthorne Hawthorne's Henry Thoreau Ibid journal July June later lecture Lidian live looked Manse Margaret Fuller Mem MFO MF Letters mind months morning mother Nathaniel Hawthorne nature never October once Peabody poems poet Ripley Salem Sam Ward Sanborn Sarah Clarke School seemed September sister soon Sophia soul spirit stay summer talk Theodore Parker thought tion told took Transcendentalists Very's Walden Walden Pond Waldo walk Walt Walt Whitman Ward weeks Whitman wife William write wrote Emerson York young