Synopses & Reviews
The Civil War is a pervasive presence in the journals in this volume. "The war searches character," Emerson wrote. Both his reading and his writing reflected his concern for the endurance of the nation, whose strength lay in the moral strength of the people. He read military biographies and memoirs, while turning again to Persian, Chinese, and Indian literature. The deaths of Clough, Thoreau, Hawthorne, and his aunt Mary Moody Emerson prompted him to reread their letters and journals, remembering and reappraising.
These were stirring, poignant years for Emerson. The times were hard, his lecturing was curtailed, and a new book seemed out of the question. He felt the losses, fears, and frustrations that come to those who believe in a cause they are too old to fight for. But his respected position as a man of letters brought him some unusual experiences, such as a trip to Washington in which he met President Lincoln, Secretaries Seward and Chase, and other key figures in the government. Inspecting West Point as a member of the Board of Visitors, he was deeply impressed by the character and spartan training of the cadets who were soon to see action.
At the war's end, busy again with a heavy lecture schedule and feeling his age a little, he took a long look back at the conflict and concluded that war "heals a deeper wound than any it makes."
Review
No American mind stands more influentially for creativity than Emerson's. And these lifelong records, his journals particularly, provide unique glimpses into his growth...His journalizing was literary practice, but above all, it was a heritage from the unsparing Puritan self-examination of the spirit. Chicago Tribune
Review
[Emerson's journals] make the fullness of his humanity and his understanding of the country he was living in unmistakable. By contrast the published works proclaim the various stances he was driven to assume...In the journals he is both more hard-headed and more warm-hearted. New York Times Book Review
Review
What appeals in this volume is the freshness and nearness of Emerson the person. A man so reserved and scrupulous is only to be known in his private journals. That his earlier editors Edward Waldo Emerson and Waldo Emerson Forbes made him less of a person is well known. This latest volume furthers the restoration of his wildness, his uncertainties, and his originality. American Historical Review
Review
That the editors have been able to order this fascinating chaos is a tribute to their patience, intelligence, and skill. There will never have to be another edition. New York Times Rook Review
Synopsis
The Civil War is a pervasive presence in the journals in this volume. "The war searches character," Emerson wrote. Both his reading and his writing reflected his concern for the endurance of the nation, whose strength lay in the moral strength of the people. He read military biographies and memoirs, while turning again to Persian, Chinese, and Indian literature. The deaths of Clough, Thoreau, Hawthorne, and his aunt Mary Moody Emerson prompted him to reread their letters and journals, remembering and reappraising.
About the Author
Linda Allardt is Assistant Professor of English at the University of Rochester.David W. Hill is Associate Professor of English at the State University of New York College at Oswego.Ruth H. Bennett has been Research Associate for this edition for seventeen years.
Table of Contents
FOREWORD TO VOLUME XV
The Journals: 1860-1866
Chronology
Symbols and Abbreviations
PART ONE
The Texts of the Journals
DL
GL
WAR
VA
FOR
KL
PART TWO
The Texts of the Miscellaneous Notebooks
HT
Pocket Diary 13
Pocket Diary 14
Pocket Diary 15
Pocket Diary 16
Appendix I Journals and Notebooks in the Harvard Edition
Appendix II Montreal Herald Report of "Classes of Men"
Textual Notes
Index