Transcendental Club
Encyclopedia
The Transcendental Club was a group of New England
intellectuals of the early-to-mid-19th century which gave rise to Transcendentalism
.
, Ralph Waldo Emerson
, George Ripley, and George Putnam (1807–1878; the Unitarian minister in Roxbury) met in Cambridge, Massachusetts
on September 8, 1836, to discuss the formation of a new club; their first official meeting was held eleven days later at Ripley's house in Boston. Other members of the club included Bronson Alcott, Orestes Brownson
, Theodore Parker
, Henry David Thoreau
, William Henry Channing
, James Freeman Clarke
, Christopher Pearse Cranch
, Convers Francis
, Sylvester Judd
, and Jones Very
. Female members included Sophia Ripley
, Margaret Fuller
, Elizabeth Peabody
, and Ellen Sturgis Hooper
.
Originally, the group went by the name "Hedge's Club" because it usually met when Hedge was visiting from Bangor, Maine
. The name Transcendental Club was given to the group by the public and not by its participants. James Elliot Cabot, a biographer of Emerson, wrote of the group as "the occasional meetings of a changing body of liberal thinkers, agreeing in nothing but their liberality". Hedge wrote: "There was no club in the strict sense... only occasional meetings of like-minded men and women". It was sometimes referred to by the nickname "the brotherhood of the 'Like-Minded'".
The club was a meeting-place for these young thinkers and an organizing ground for their idealist frustration with the general state of American culture and society at the time, and in particular, the state of intellectualism
at Harvard University
and in the Unitarian
church.
Many well-known American journals, including the North American Review and the Christian Examiner, refused to accept submissions from the Transcendental Club for publication. In October 1839, members of the Transcendental Club had the idea of establishing their own periodical as a platform for their ideals. Initially, Brownson suggested utilizing his Boston Quarterly Review, though others thought their own magazine was necessary. Hedge, Parker, and Emerson declined the role of editor. Ripley served as the managing editor and Fuller accepted the editor position on October 20, 1839, though she was unable to begin work on the publication until the first week of 1840. The first issue of The Dial
, with an introduction by Emerson calling it a "Journal in a new spirit", was published in July 1840.
The Transcendental Club likely did not have official meetings after September 1840, though they continued to correspond and attend each other's lectures. The Dial continued to be published, though it was never financially stable. In 1843, then business manager Elizabeth Peabody
counted only two hundred subscribers and that its income was not covering production costs. It finally ceased publication in April 1844.
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
intellectuals of the early-to-mid-19th century which gave rise to Transcendentalism
Transcendentalism
Transcendentalism is a philosophical movement that developed in the 1830s and 1840s in the New England region of the United States as a protest against the general state of culture and society, and in particular, the state of intellectualism at Harvard University and the doctrine of the Unitarian...
.
Overview
Frederick Henry HedgeFrederick Henry Hedge
Frederick Henry Hedge was a New England Unitarian minister and Transcendentalist. He was a founder of the Transcendental Club, originally called Hedge's Club, and active in the development of Transcendentalism.-Biography:...
, Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson was an American essayist, lecturer, and poet, who led the Transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century...
, George Ripley, and George Putnam (1807–1878; the Unitarian minister in Roxbury) met in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
on September 8, 1836, to discuss the formation of a new club; their first official meeting was held eleven days later at Ripley's house in Boston. Other members of the club included Bronson Alcott, Orestes Brownson
Orestes Brownson
Orestes Augustus Brownson was a New England intellectual and activist, preacher, labor organizer, and noted Catholic convert and writer...
, Theodore Parker
Theodore Parker
Theodore Parker was an American Transcendentalist and reforming minister of the Unitarian church...
, Henry David Thoreau
Henry David Thoreau
Henry David Thoreau was an American author, poet, philosopher, abolitionist, naturalist, tax resister, development critic, surveyor, historian, and leading transcendentalist...
, William Henry Channing
William Henry Channing
William Henry Channing was an American Unitarian clergyman, writer and philosopher.-Biography:William Henry Channing was born in Boston, Massachusetts...
, James Freeman Clarke
James Freeman Clarke
James Freeman Clarke , an American theologian and author.-Biography:Born in Hanover, New Hampshire, James Freeman Clarke attended the Boston Latin School, graduated from Harvard College in 1829, and Harvard Divinity School in 1833...
, Christopher Pearse Cranch
Christopher Pearse Cranch
Christopher Pearse Cranch was an American writer and artist.-Biography:Cranch was born in the District of Columbia. He attended Columbian College and Harvard Divinity School. He briefly held a position as a Unitarian minister...
, Convers Francis
Convers Francis
Convers Francis was a Unitarian minister from Watertown, Massachusetts.-Life and work:He was born the son of Susannah Rand Francis and Convers Francis, and named after his father. His sister, Lydia Maria, later became an important reformer.Francis studied to become a minister at Harvard Divinity...
, Sylvester Judd
Sylvester Judd
Sylvester Judd was an American novelist.-Biography:Sylvester Judd III was born on July 23, 1813, in Westhampton, Massachusetts to Sylvester Judd II and Apphia Hall. He studied at Hopkins Academy in Hadley, Massachusetts, graduated from Yale College in 1836, and from Harvard Divinity School in 1840...
, and Jones Very
Jones Very
Jones Very was an American essayist, poet, clergymen, and mystic associated with the American Transcendentalism movement. He was known as a scholar of William Shakespeare and many of his poems were Shakespearean sonnets...
. Female members included Sophia Ripley
Sophia Ripley
Sophia Willard Dana Ripley , wife of George Ripley, was a 19th-century feminist associated with Transcendentalism and the Brook Farm community.-Biography:...
, Margaret Fuller
Margaret Fuller
Sarah Margaret Fuller Ossoli, commonly known as Margaret Fuller, was an American journalist, critic, and women's rights advocate associated with the American transcendentalism movement. She was the first full-time American female book reviewer in journalism...
, Elizabeth Peabody
Elizabeth Peabody
Elizabeth Palmer Peabody was an American educator who opened the first English-language kindergarten in the United States. Long before most educators, Peabody embraced the premise that children's play has intrinsic developmental and educational value.-Biography:Peabody was born in Billerica,...
, and Ellen Sturgis Hooper
Ellen Sturgis Hooper
Ellen Sturgis Hooper was an American poet. A member of the Transcendental Club, she was widely regarded as one of the most gifted poets among the New England Transcendentalists...
.
Originally, the group went by the name "Hedge's Club" because it usually met when Hedge was visiting from Bangor, Maine
Bangor, Maine
Bangor is a city in and the county seat of Penobscot County, Maine, United States, and the major commercial and cultural center for eastern and northern Maine...
. The name Transcendental Club was given to the group by the public and not by its participants. James Elliot Cabot, a biographer of Emerson, wrote of the group as "the occasional meetings of a changing body of liberal thinkers, agreeing in nothing but their liberality". Hedge wrote: "There was no club in the strict sense... only occasional meetings of like-minded men and women". It was sometimes referred to by the nickname "the brotherhood of the 'Like-Minded'".
The club was a meeting-place for these young thinkers and an organizing ground for their idealist frustration with the general state of American culture and society at the time, and in particular, the state of intellectualism
Intellectualism
Intellectualism denotes the use and development of the intellect, the practice of being an intellectual, and of holding intellectual pursuits in great regard. Moreover, in philosophy, “intellectualism” occasionally is synonymous with “rationalism”, i.e. knowledge derived mostly from reason and...
at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
and in the Unitarian
Unitarianism
Unitarianism is a Christian theological movement, named for its understanding of God as one person, in direct contrast to Trinitarianism which defines God as three persons coexisting consubstantially as one in being....
church.
Many well-known American journals, including the North American Review and the Christian Examiner, refused to accept submissions from the Transcendental Club for publication. In October 1839, members of the Transcendental Club had the idea of establishing their own periodical as a platform for their ideals. Initially, Brownson suggested utilizing his Boston Quarterly Review, though others thought their own magazine was necessary. Hedge, Parker, and Emerson declined the role of editor. Ripley served as the managing editor and Fuller accepted the editor position on October 20, 1839, though she was unable to begin work on the publication until the first week of 1840. The first issue of The Dial
The Dial
The Dial was an American magazine published intermittently from 1840 to 1929. In its first form, from 1840 to 1844, it served as the chief publication of the Transcendentalists. In the 1880s it was revived as a political magazine...
, with an introduction by Emerson calling it a "Journal in a new spirit", was published in July 1840.
The Transcendental Club likely did not have official meetings after September 1840, though they continued to correspond and attend each other's lectures. The Dial continued to be published, though it was never financially stable. In 1843, then business manager Elizabeth Peabody
Elizabeth Peabody
Elizabeth Palmer Peabody was an American educator who opened the first English-language kindergarten in the United States. Long before most educators, Peabody embraced the premise that children's play has intrinsic developmental and educational value.-Biography:Peabody was born in Billerica,...
counted only two hundred subscribers and that its income was not covering production costs. It finally ceased publication in April 1844.
Further reading
- Perry MillerPerry MillerPerry G. Miller was an American intellectual historian and Harvard University professor. He was an authority on American Puritanism, and a founder of the field of American Studies. Alfred Kazin referred to him as "the master of American intellectual history"...
, The Transcendentalists (Harvard University Press, 1966). ISBN 1-56731-215-2, ISBN 0-674-90330-7, ISBN 0-674-90333-1.
External links
- A brief history of the Club from Transcendentalism Web