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

by Samuel A. Schreiner Jr.

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

Genres: History, Biography, Nonfiction, Literature, Philosophy, Biography Memoir, American History

256 pages, Hardcover

First published August 4, 2006

Reviews

[Katy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very short book, and it just give an overview of the men and time period for Transcendentalism.
I believe it serves its purpose and is well written.
I learned several things that I did not know before, and was able to read the book fairly quickly.
Enjoyable and informative.

[James Murphy · Rating 2 out of 5]

A book attempting to combine the biographies of the New England writers Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne, and Bronson Alcott is an ambitious undertaking involving penetrating research and a careful orgznization of the material. It's such a fascinating subject that one wonders why it hasn't been written before. Unfortunately, Schreiner manages to make it all uninteresting. It may be that it lacks a focus on some common thread other than the fact of their living in Concord by which to see these people and link them. Schreiner fails to fully develop their complex interrelationships and hurries over their individual philosophies or else avoids them altogether. It's a work which needed to be much longer in order to do justice to its subjects. For young readers it's a fine introduction to these 4 writers. However, for more experienced readers there aren't enough ties uniting their intellectual ideas and interests to make the book into the sinewy study they might expect. Those readers want the interpretation and analysis Schreiner doesn't provide. They've already read Hawthorne, Thoreau, and Emerson, and possibly Alcott. But rather than evaluate in his own words who these people were and what they wrote, Schreiner quotes at length from their works, so much so that in some sections The Concord Quartet is predominantly extended quotes. The book's even marred by a few inaccuracies, particularly about the Civil War years. Again, excellent for the young just coming to these people, not as interesting for those familiar with the subject. The result of all this is sterile biography.

[Carol · Rating 2 out of 5]

Set from 1834 to 1888 in Concord, Massachusetts, four of America's leading intellectuals -- Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne were successful American writers. Unfortunately the last, Amos Bronson Alcott (father of Louisa May Alcott) was cut from a different cloth. To some he was respected as an educational reformer, speaker and teacher. I found this short book lacking any depth to events in their personal lives. It did briefly highlight events commonly known and overall, I found the narrative very dry.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Though never financially successful, Emerson, Alcott, Hawthorn and Thoreau molded the collective mind new republic of American with their views of nature, freedom, simplicity and religion. They pulled away from the European classical thought and Puritanical restraints to emphasize personal responsibility, individual choice and more egalitarian fellowship that is in many ways, more representative of American ideals than those of the founding fathers who held ideals of freedom but maintained the practice of slavery. I was pleased to note that many women, wives and colleagues, were included in their schools and discussions and who like my beloved Louisa May Alcott, went on to have successful writing and teaching careers. What amazed me was the way famous people crossed their paths. One gentleman goes west and just happens to meet Joseph Muir; Hawthorn rents a house by the sea and Herman Melville is his neighbor; one's father in law was Horace Mann; another was a school chum of President Franklin Pierce; and John Brown stopped by for coffee on the way to Harpers Ferry. As well known writers and a community of free-thinkers they must have attracted like-minded people to them, but the above list only scratches the surface. Amazing.

The writing was difficult to slog through. The author was often circuitous in his narrative and would switch from one subject to another in mid paragraph. I often found myself returning to the top of the paragraph to find the antecedent for a pronoun. There was also an over use of extensive quotations from the four subjects and others that slowed rather than helped the narrative along.

However, a good book to help make connections to early 1800's history and America's founding philosophers.

[Silvia M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Era quello che desideravo: un testo su Concord e sui suoi illustri abitanti. Biografia, antologia, cenni storici, aneddoti; non è esaustivo ma fornisce lo spunto per approfondire. Vorrei già ricominciarlo per affiancargli la lettura, o la rilettura, delle opere di questi autori che amo.

[Mike · Rating 1 out of 5]

Schreiner attempts to recapture a seminal moment in the history of American ideas. For a few decades in the nineteenth century, the intellectual and cultural center of fledgling United States was twenty miles outside Boston in the town of Concord, Massachusetts. Politically, the young nation was prodigious – putting into practice ideas only flirted with in Europe. But in terms of intellectual culture, America was generally regarded as a backwoods place in comparison to the capitals of Western Europe. The criticism was not without cause; the United States had little to offer because there was no American philosophy or American arts as yet to offer. America’s first cultural awakening was centered in the small New England town of Concord, where several prominent writers and thinkers lived as they developed their ideas. The names are all familiar from a high school course on American literature: Emerson, Thoreau Hawthorne, and Alcott. They lived within a few miles of each other; they were familiar with each other’s work; some of them visited frequently to dine or walk the countryside around Concord – but always to talk.

Unfortunately, Schreiner’s portrait offers little depth to this compelling narrative of ideas in the flesh. His book reads more like the Reader’s Digest version of four separate biographies than an intellectual history of the time or even a collage of intersected lives. The reader will find some interesting tidbits – for example, that Nathaniel Hawthorne was good friends with President Franklin Pierce. But, Schreiner offers no real depiction of how these men were interconnected socially or intellectually. The reader walks way wondering, “How is their friendship reflected in the development of their ideas?” Worse still, without further exploration of these authors, the reader is left without any serious appreciation of how their ideas collectively contributed to the emergence of the United States’ first intellectual wellspring.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellent overview of Hawthorne, Emerson, Thoreau, and Alcott. A perfect read before visiting Concord.

[Charlene · Rating 3 out of 5]

The concept for this is good . . . a short book about the friendship among the Concord writers & thinkers of the mid-1800s. I read this because I recently spent a day in Concord, toured the Emerson and Alcott homes, walked around Walden Pond & saw the re-creation of Thoreau's little cabin and visited the Manse, owned by the Emerson family & rented to Hawthorne.

Somehow, though the subject is fascinating to me, the book just didn't come together. I never got a good sense of Hawthorne (the one I knew the least about) and a lot of the book was sloughing through long quotes from the four authors. Also, rather odd choices of "human interest" stories for such a short book. I did appreciate the size of print in the book!! I've read an excellent biography of Emerson, think I will go on eventually to look for a Thoreau biography. I admire Emerson and Thoreau especially; their lives, philosophy, involvement in the important issues of their day, and commitment to friendship.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

As someone who has had a long love for this time period and the writers and thinkers of Concord, Schreiner gives a concise but expansive overview. The book provides a chronological account that jumps between figures, focusing on the interweaving of their lives. I appreciate the historical context he provides, particularly in regard to the Civil War and Anti-slavery movement. Excellent use of first hand accounts and journal entries to tell the story and bring it to life. Bright Circle is a fantastic companion to this book as the Transcendentalist movement would not have existed without Mary Moody, Margaret Fuller, Lidian Emerson, Abba Alcott and Elizabeth Peabody. Harriet Reisen’s book on Louisa May Alcott is also a fantastic read for more information on the Alcotts.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

A succinct rendering of the friendships of four extraordinary men and the women in their lives all intersecting in Concord, Massachusetts. Schreiner quotes frequently and at length from journals, letters, and original works of all four men and a number of their family members as well. Many of the highlights and familiar anecdotes are included as well as some not so well known. The reader comes away with a good understanding of the relationships among these creative Americans of the 19th Century.

[Albertine67 · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are certain topics which are guilty pleasures for me and I'll read pretty much anything written about them. The Cambridge spies. The miners' strike. Nuns. And the completely loopy goings on of Bronson Alcott, the whole Concord setup. Somewhat pedestrian writing but a solid account which cannot help but err on the side of hilarity.

[Lisa Muller · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a wonderful biographical picture , not only of four men and their families, but of the town of Concord, Massachusetts, where their lives, their families, and their ideas were woven together. I loved the book so much that I WENT to Concord and walked through the rooms and the woods where they lived and worked. Loved it! However, it is very dense-- certainly not a quick read!

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's the story of the remarkable collection of literary giants who lived and worked in Concord, Massachusetts in the 1800's. They were more than acquaintances; they were friends. And to a certain degree they inspired each other.

[Chandra Powers Wersch · Rating 4 out of 5]

good blend of biography and historical context of the Antebellum and Civil War era

[Melinda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Buddy read with Charlene after our visit to Concord. This account lacks focus and suffers from tedious extended quotes. Not a terrible book, but sadly lacking given its subjects.

[Joy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Samuel Schreiner's The Concord Quartet is a brief portrait of the group of early 19th Century Transcendentalist writers and academics who called Concord, Massachusetts, home during the period of the "American Renaissance" in arts and letters. The book focuses on four major figures: Ralph Waldo Emerson, Amos Bronson Alcott, Henry David Thoreau, and Nathaniel Hawthorne. Schreiner weaves together the individual stories of these four friends and neighbors to produce an interesting look at the intellectual life of the time and place.

This book is a good overview of the subject, not an in-depth examination. I enjoyed it, but its concentration on Emerson left me wanting to know more about the other members of the group. Nathaniel Hawthorne gets a bit less attention than the others, but he wasn't really resident in Concord for much of the period covered in the book. Unfortunately, he seems to be the most intriguing of them all.

I have to admit, I chose this book mainly because I'm interested in the women associated with the Concord group. Bronson Alcott was the father of Louisa May Alcott, one of my early favorites. And Sophia and Elizabeth Peabody were strong influences on the group – Elizabeth published some of their earliest works, and Sophia married Nathaniel Hawthorne.

Samuel Schreiner was a writer for Reader's Digest, and sometimes The Concord Quartet comes across a little like one of those condensed books put out by the Digest. What's there is interesting, but you keep wishing you could have seen what was left out.

[Holly Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

For a lay reader like me, who studied biology in college and skipped any humanities course that might have required reading up on 19th century literature and history, The Concord Quartet provides a brilliant--and highly entertaining--introduction to some of the most important authors and ideas of the day. What I love about this book is Schreiner's ability to humanize iconic figures, making it clear that these were men who struggled, just like us, to find a way to juggle making a living with making art, all while being actively engaged in politics, culture, and friendships that spurred each of them on intellectually and emotionally. I can't recommend this book highly enough, even to casual readers. This book has inspired me to read the original books published by Emerson, Thoreau, and Hawthorne, especially--all of those great works that I skipped over to study organic chemistry and microbiology!

[Kathleen F · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting account of the confluence of four great thinkers and/or writers in one small Massachusetts town. (Note that the Alcott in the title is actually Bronson Alcott, not Louisa May.) Perhaps what I liked most about the book is how we come to realize that two great revolutions began in Concord: the first, of course, the American Revolution in 1775 with the "shot that heard round the world"; the second was a revolution of ideas with the rise of transcendentalism in the mid-nineteenth century. Imagine people of that time suggesting that we didn't need churches to relate to God--that any deity would be found and manifest in the natural world around us, as well as in our own minds and hearts. Recommended for anyone interested in Concord history/American literary history.

[Naomi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Schreiner's story indicated by the title is a bit more heroic than the personages involved, although of the four men profiled, Thoreau comes out as the most heroic and sacrificing of them all - not Emerson. While there is a good bit of material on the women who compose the Transcendentalist circles, they are, with the exception of Abba Alcott, not lionized. Read this to learn more of the personalities involved, but do not settle for the easy story. Dig into what Schreiner relates and read more of his source material, too. Schreiner begins to illuminate the complex relationships, but no one story will be sufficient.

[Liam · Rating 4 out of 5]

"'The highest revelation is that God is in every man.'" (quoting Emerson, 27)

"'A half day of liberty like that was like the promise of life eternal.'" (quoting Thoreau, 60)

"'There is no remedy for love but to love more.'" (quoting Thoreau, 72)

"[Emerson's Essays] were not logical arguments for any point of view but compendiums of thoughts, observations, life experiences, and quotations from other thinkers that were drawn together to the theme like scattered iron filings to a magnet." (88)

"'To be awake is to be alive.'" (quoting Thoreau, 183)

"'Of immortality, the soul, when well employed, is incurious.'" (quoting Emerson, 204)

[Sundra · Rating 4 out of 5]

I gave this a four-star mostly because I'm fascinated with these men and place, indeed, what happens when artists and intellectuals and spiritual people come together in a certain geographic place. There was much to enjoy and learn in here, but I would have preferred a little heavier author's hand that worked to tell stories more fully and tie them together. Schreiner uses a lot of their own words, which is nice in some ways. However, some is older style writing, running on for pages occasionally, and not as illustrative as it might be. I also wish he had included Margaret Fuller in the mix, though it would have turned this into a quintet.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

The quick read gave a nice insight to the relationship between Bronson Alcott, Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Henry Thoreau and Concord. It was interesting to learn who their contemporaries were through their meetings and conversations. I was somewhat surprised to find how influential to their meetings certain women were. If you're interested in these gentlemen but their philosophy is too heady to begin with, begin by reading this book to get to know who they were.

[Terry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I discovered this book at the House of Seven Gables Museum Shop in Salem, MA, birthplace of Nathaniel Hawthorne (the city, not the house.) This extremely readable book is highly recommended for any student of American Literature. It helped me remember what the American Transcendentalist movement was all about, bringing to life those who were most involved with the movement through their own dairies and the diaries of others. Totally makes me want to read more of these author’s works; and it’s inspired a trip to Concord in May, 2007.

[Mark Valentine · Rating 3 out of 5]

The four friendships in the book have a historical or biographical treatment; Schreiner writes this as a collection of their works, quoting their essays and letters at length. He also writes as if he were a biographer and a historian--even if this book is labelled as literary criticism; it should be in the biography section.

The fact that the four had a confluence in Concord, MA, is unique. I enjoyed reading it for the anecdotes it provided. But that is as far as this book goes. He does not write any analysis nor take it upon himself to be critically engaged.

[Gloria · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had great hopes for this book. Alas, I nearly set it aside several times. Schreiner had a wealth of information here (definitely did his research), but it bogged down his attempt to write it as a story, as opposed to a multi-person biography. I found myself losing interest much of the time and even *gasp* skipping ahead pages. American Bloomsbury is a far better read on this unforgettable group of American originals.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book on the relationships of several luminaries of the mid-nineteenth century. I'm not totally sure that I would say that Hawthorne was much of a friend, but an acquaintance. Definitely worth a read if you are interested in transcendentalism or even the some of the history leading up to the civil war. These men were friends of presidents and wrote and spoke in a way that influenced many Americans.

[Sean · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good quick history read...

[Matea · Rating 4 out of 5]

5 stars for content. 4 for execution.

[Katie Bullock · Rating 4 out of 5]

The organization of this book drove me bonkers, but the info was fascinating.