The Esoteric Origins of the American Renaissance [Hardcover]

Arthur Versluis (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0195138872 | ISBN-13: 978-0195138870 | Publication Date: March 8, 2001

The term "Western esotericism" refers to a wide range of spiritual currents including alchemy, Hermeticism, Kabbala, Rosicrucianism, and Christian theosophy, as well as several practical forms of esotericism like cartomancy, geomancy, necromancy, alchemy, astrology, herbalism, and magic. The early presence of esotericism in North America has not been much studied, and even less so the indebtedness to esotericism of some major American literary figures. In this book, Arthur Versluis breaks new ground, showing that many writers of the so-called American Renaissance drew extensively on and were inspired by Western esoteric currents.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"An excellent book and one worthy to be consulted by all scholars of nineteenth-century American literary and religious culture." --Religious Studies Review

"[G]roundbreaking...His analysis and scholarship are as fascinating as a treasure hunt."--The Quest

"This useful and fascinating...corrective to conventional understandings of the influences and impulses of various American Renaissance figures is recommended for upper-division undergraduates and above."--Choice

"[H]e provides readers with an impressive introduction to the subject, one that well deserves John Gatta's dust jacket praise of his volume as " a learned, authoritative, and genuinely original contribution."--Religion and the Arts

"Brings to light a revealing dimension of nineteenth-century American literary culture that has too often been relegated to footnotes or passed over in somewhat embarrassed silence by twentieth-century literary critics. . . . brings to light a fascinating dimension of early American literary culture."--Journal of Religion

About the Author

Arthur Versluis is at Michigan State University.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (March 8, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195138872
• ISBN-13: 978-0195138870
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,079,767 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Impact of Esotericism on 19th C. American Literature, August 27, 2007

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Cameron B. Clark (Bristow, Virginia United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

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This review is from: The Esoteric Origins of the American Renaissance (Hardcover)

According to Versluis in his introduction, the American Renaissance was "that extraordinary period during the mid-nineteenth century when so much of American literature came into being." He states in Chapter 4 that just as the Italian Renaissance was inspired chiefly by two intellectual figures, Marsilio Ficino and Pico della Mirandola, who were themselves inspired by their rediscovery of Western esoteric traditions (Jewish Kabbala, Hermeticism, and Neoplatonism), the mid-19th century American Renaissance had related esoteric origins. The ten American authors he focuses on, dedicating a chapter to each, are as follows: Ethan Allen Hitchcock (1798 - 1870), Edgar Allen Poe (1809 - 1849), Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804 - 1864), Herman Melville (1819 - 1891), James Pierrepont Greaves (1777 - 1842), Amos Bronson Alcott (1799 - 1888), Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 - 1882), Margaret Fuller (1810 - 1850), Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892), and Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886).

Before covering the above authors in Chapters 5 through 14, Versluis includes three chapters after the introduction to discuss esotericism in general, beginning with European Esoteric Currents (Ch. 2), followed by Esotericism in Early America (Ch. 3) and The Esoteric Ambience of the American Renaissance (Ch. 4). Chapter 2 introduces Antoine Faivre as the leading esoteric scholar and uses his Access to Western Esotericism to discuss the fundamental characteristics of European esotericism. He then focuses on the following forms of esotericism that were brought to North America: alchemy, Christian theosophy via Jacob Boehme [1575 - 1624] (which Verslius has significantly contributed to the study of), secret societies (such as Rosicrucianism and Freemasonry), and the works of Emanuel Swedenborg (1688 - 1772) who Versluis calls "the most influential European esotericist for nineteenth-century America". Chapter 3 looks at the impact of these esoteric sources along with astrology and folk magic on colonial America and lightly touches on the witchcraft trials in New England, the topic of witchcraft resurfacing again when discussing Hawthorne and Dickinson. Regarding Freemasonry, he notes that although it was immensely important in the founding of the United States, having both an exoteric fraternal side as well as a developing esoteric one, it had very little to do with the American renaissance in the 19th century. He states that the emergence of the Antimasonic party, the first third party in American history which developed as a result of the mysterious disappearance of ex-Mason William Morgan in 1826, is a major reason why Masonry didn't significantly contribute to the mid-19th century literary renaissance. None of the ten major literary figures covered by Versluis were Masons, although he states that "they were certainly influenced by the Masonic ideals that informed the founding of the United States."

Chapter 4 takes us to the esoteric ambience (or context) of the American Renaissance. Versluis states that within 19th century America "many of the major currents of Western esotericism that had been so prominent in colonial America had waned, gone underground, or for the most part disappeared." This was due to the rise of modern scientific rationalism and industrialization. However, "There were three major avenues, outside of folk traditions, by which esoteric currents continued in America, albeit in new forms: spiritualism, variant forms of Mesmerism and healing, and various experimental forms of Christianity." He adds: "At least the first two, and arguably the third as well, were more popular movements than esoteric ones, but all of them continued or derived from earlier Western esoteric traditions." Versluis discusses the first two in light of the impact of Swedenborg, but one significant 19th century American movement he overlooks that was influenced not only by Mesmer but also Swedenborg and later Emerson is the New Thought movement. This movement is certainly outside of "conventional" Christianity, but is an influential component within the broader New Age movement today as discussed in Wouter Hanegraaff's New Age Religion and Western Culture: Esotericism in the Mirror of Secular Thought, a seminal text referred to by Versluis. Early New Thought author and Methodist-turned-Swedenborgian Warren Felt Evans (1817 - 1889) was an influential esoteric writer, even publishing a book titled "Esoteric Christianity and Mental Therapeutics" (1886). Evans was healed and inspired by Mesmer-influenced Phineas P. Quimby (1802 - 1866) who also healed and influenced Mary Baker Eddy (1821 - 1910), the founder in 1879 of the Church of Christ (Scientist) [a.k.a. Christian Science].

Regarding experimental forms of Christianity that continued or transformed European esoteric traditions, Versluis gives the example of John Humphrey Noyes (1811 - 1886), the founder of the Oneida Community in western New York state. He says Noyes was converted in "the great revival of 1831" (via revivalist Charles Finney [1792 - 1875]) and "began to endorse 'perfectionism,' the idea that Christians should move toward attaining complete salvation from sin in this life." Although he states that this approach to Christianity has a long history, he doesn't mention the influential Wesleyan-holiness movement in which "Christian perfection" had a place, but prefers instead to compare it with the French Cathar heretics "whose highest level was that of the perfecti". Versluis's interest in the Oneida community involves their peculiar approach to sexuality which has similarities with the Cathari and certain Christian theosophers. Also, their desire to establish an ideal community has parallels to similar efforts by the Transcendentalists at Brook Farm and Alcott's Fruitlands. Although ignored by Versluis, the Wesleyan-holiness and faith-healing movements were a significant part of 19th century American culture's revivalism, and included among some (e.g., Thomas Cogswell Upham [1799 - 1872]) an interest in European mysticism which goes all the way back to John Wesley's love-hate relationship with it. Although these movements fall within what Versluis would call more "conventional forms of Christianity," they certainly had their share of rational Christian and secular critics and still do. These 19th century movements contributed to the development of the 20th century Pentecostal and Charismatic movements.

In the last chapter (Ch. 15) which shares the title of the book, Versluis notes that the ten authors of the American Renaissance had an intellectual and imaginative rather than practical interest in the Western esoteric traditions. He says that almost without exception, these authors "limited their contact with esoteric traditions to the realm of literature alone." Even Ethan Allen Hitchcock, who accumulated the finest library of rare alchemical books in the mid-19th century, rejected practical alchemy for an intellectualized, spiritual one. This takes us to a point which Versluis should have clearly reiterated in the last chapter but didn't. Although these authors had a literary interest in certain forms of esotericism, this doesn't exclude the fact that some of them had 'mystical' experiences. Versluis uses the term 'mystical' or one of its derivatives (mysticism, mystic) in several places in the book (see, for example, page 116) and notes certain metaphysical experiences that some of the authors must have had as evidenced in their writings. Versluis also discusses in the last chapter the relationship of romanticism to the American Renaissance, distinguishing between romanticism and esotericism.

Versluis states in his introduction that his book is the first investigation (as of 2001) into how "Western esoteric currents provided the ambience for and informed the American Renaissance". He notes, however, that there were a few books that began to reveal the extent to which 19th century America was influenced by Western esoteric traditions. The two examples he gives are related to Mormon studies: The Refiner's Fire: The Making of Mormon Cosmology 1644 - 1844 by John L. Brooke and Early Mormonism and the Magic World View by Michael Quinn. Regarding Christian theosophy, for those who have read Versluis's books on this topic and have an on-going interest in it, this text on the American Renaissance is a further resource for study since Versluis shows the impact of the Boehmean theosophic tradition on Greaves, Alcott, and Emerson. Greaves had a private library of nearly a thousand volumes, mostly of Boehmean mysticism, which was brought to America after his death by Alcott and undoubtedly influenced American Transcendentalism. The library also included magical works by Agrippa and Paracelsus as well as mystical ones such as the Spiritual Guide by Quietist mystic Miguel de Molinos. Some may want to check out Versluis's book: Western Esotericism, Literature, and Consciousness (which was later published as Restoring Paradise: Western Esotericism, Literature, Art, and Consciousness [2004]). He refers to it in several places in the book, calling it a companion to this one in his introduction.

4.0 out of 5 stars The Esoteric Origins of the American Renaissance, November 8, 2009

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javafusion - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Esoteric Origins of the American Renaissance (Hardcover)

Here, Arthur Versluis breaks new ground, showing that many writers of the American Renaissance drew extensively on and were inspired by Western esoteric currents. Thus he demonstrates that Alcott and Emerson were indebted to Hermeticism, Christian theosophy, and Neoplatonism; Fuller to alchemy and Rosicrucianism; Hawthorne to alchemy; and Melville to Gnosticism. In addition to offering a detailed analysis of the esoteric elements in the writings of figures from the American Renaissance, Versluis presents an overview of esotericism in Europe and its offshoots in colonial America. This innovative work will interest students and scholars of religion, literature, American studies and esotericism.