Autobiography of Brook Farm

by Henry W. Sams (Editor)

A study of the Transcendentalist movement in Massachusetts, including the role of Emerson & Thoreau in the religious struggle with early American Protestantism

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1959

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting insights into attempts to adopt Associations, what we might call communes or kibbutzs today, as an economic and social way of life in mid-19th century America. Brook Farm, established outside Boston, attracted well-known Yankees including Nathaniel Hawthorne. He lived there for half a year before deciding the Association life wasn't for him. The book consists of correspondence and tracts offering insight into the struggle of the group to establish and thrive. I found the book in the freebie pile at the Palo Alto Library sale. Well worthwhile for anyone interested in efforts made over the years to establish sharing as a way of life. About one-third of the way through are a collection of letters by Hawthorne describing autumn in Massachusetts that evoke the season in a way I have never read before. One can smell the earth, the trees and the fruit through his words.

[Gilbert Wesley Purdy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of source readings about George Ripley and company's attempt at communal living (including letters to and from the members). The group included a young Nathaniel Hawthorne and Charles A. Dana. Emerson and Thoreau were invited but declined. Thoreau was amused and expected it to fail. Emerson was much too used to private living and visited from time to time. He and William Henry Channing visited and gave occasional Sunday sermons.

This was one of the earliest attempts at an American Utopia and all of the Massachusetts intellectuals were close to it in one way or another. Hawthorne would eventually become the novelist and short story writer we all know. He would write a fictionalized account of his Brook Farm experience called The Blithedale Romance.