The Concord Quartet: Alcott, Emerson, Hawthorne, Thoreau and the Friendship That Freed the American Mind [Hardcover]

Samuel A. Schreiner Jr. (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 4, 2006 | ISBN-10: 0471646636 | ISBN-13: 978-0471646631 | Edition: 1

"We will walk on our own feet;

we will work with our own hands;

we will speak our own minds."
--Ralph Waldo Emerson, "The American Scholar," 1837

From the start of transcendentalism and America's intellectual renaissance in the 1830s, to the Civil War and beyond, the story of four extraordinary friends whose lives shaped a nation

"Beginning in the 1830s, coincidences that seem almost miraculous in retrospect brought together in Concord as friends and neighbors four men of very different temperaments and talents who shared the same conviction that the soul had 'inherent power to grasp the truth' and that the truth would make men free of old constraints on thought and behavior. In addition to Emerson, a philosopher, there was Amos Bronson Alcott, an educator; Henry David Thoreau, a naturalist and rebel; and Nathaniel Hawthorne, a novelist. This book is the story of that unique and influential friendship in action, of the lives the friends led, and their work that resulted in an enduring change in their nation's direction."
--From the Prologue

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Schreiner takes a close look at the intellectual life of Concord, Mass. from 1834 to 1888, a period during which four of America's leading intellectuals called it home. Three of them-Emerson, Thoreau and Hawthorne-were prolific and successful writers in their own time and still rank among the most important American writers. The fourth, Amos Bronson Alcott, is best known today as the father of Louisa May, but during his lifetime he was a respected social and educational reformer, political activist, and public speaker. Schreiner works hard to bring these personalities and their dynamic relations to life, using rich detail, both in terms of Concord life and the personal and professional lives of these men, as well as in the intersection between the Concord scene and events on the national stage (like Lincoln's presidency and the debate over slavery). Although Schreiner's work is rife with dramatic episodes and compelling stories, the overall tone is academic rather than popular, and includes many excerpts from the quartet's written work with accompanying analysis. Readers unfamiliar with Hawthorne or the Transcendentalists may have difficulty taking to the book initially, but sticking with it should make any reader eager to pick up Walden next. Readers interested in American literature or American history will gain much from Schreiner's work.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

With the publication of his Essay on Nature, in 1836, Emerson ushered in the beginnings of an intellectual revolution in the town famous for the first shots of the American Revolution. His friend Amos Bronson Alcott had shared the germination of those ideas with him. Henry David Thoreau, fresh from Harvard, was so taken with Nature that he became Emerson's most ardent follower, even sounding like the man before finding his own voice. Although Nathaniel Hawthorne was never quite a true transcendentalist, he certainly benefited from their friendship and support. Schreiner uses journals, eyewitness accounts, and the writings of the four men to bring them to life and to illustrate their effect on American thought. He deftly weaves their everyday lives--loves, losses, sicknesses, and disagreements--with historical events--the war with Mexico, the conflict over slavery, John Brown's rebellion, and the Civil War--giving their work a historical and a literary context. This book is eminently approachable and enlightening on various levels and will reshape the reader's image of these four men. Elizabeth Dickie
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (August 4, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471646636
• ISBN-13: 978-0471646631
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 0.9 x 9.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #662,555 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The town of Concord: a shrine to the life of thought, January 13, 2007

By 

Corinne H. Smith (Athol, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Concord Quartet: Alcott, Emerson, Hawthorne, Thoreau and the Friendship That Freed the American Mind (Hardcover)

This book is a nice overview of the lives of four key authors who spent most of their time in Concord, Massachusetts: Bronson Alcott, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Nathaniel Hawthorne. These men helped craft and define the course of true American literature through their essays, poetry, short stories, novels, nonfiction, conversations, lectures, and above all, journaling. Though no new material is presented here, Mr. Schreiner does a good job of tracing the four threads, merging them, and synthesizing basic facts with the subjects' own words. Along the way, the reader learns much about the town of Concord itself. Recommended reading for anyone who is looking for a casual yet fairly accurate introduction to the transcendentalists and to the Concord of the 1800s.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Most Harmonious Quartet, July 10, 2007

By 

C. Beimesche (St. Louis, MO USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Concord Quartet: Alcott, Emerson, Hawthorne, Thoreau and the Friendship That Freed the American Mind (Hardcover)

This wonderful book succeeds in making the great Concord writers and thinkers (Alcott, Emerson, Hawthorne, and Thoreau) living people without diminishing their indispensable contributions to the history of American literature and thought. The story of their relationships, quirks, disagreements, and, ultimately, love and support of each other goes a long way in identifying why this moment of time--the mid 19th century in Concord MA--led to such a flowering of philosophic and literary genius. Of particular worth in this volume is the redeeming vision it provides of Bronson Alcott, a figure often underrated and undervalued by modern critics. This is a fascinating story of a crucial moment in America's intellectual history.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An illuminating portrait of four amazing men!, December 7, 2006

By 

C. Kellen (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Concord Quartet: Alcott, Emerson, Hawthorne, Thoreau and the Friendship That Freed the American Mind (Hardcover)

This book is truly fantastic! Not only is the subject matter facinating, but the author weaves all the sublties together seamlessly. What might have been heavy subject matter is made by Schreiner into an exciting and surprisingly a fast read! This book is both informative and fun! I highly recommend it and it is going in all the Christmas stockings this year!