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Article: Beautiful enemies at the pond
- Article from:
- The Independent (London, England)
- Article date:
- November 10, 1996
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 1996 The Independent - London. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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When Henry James reviewed the first official biography of Ralph
Waldo Emerson in 1887 he expressed his disappointment that, while
well enough written, it did not sufficiently dwell on "the social
conditions in which Emerson moved". Though not a great personality,
Emerson was a defining figure in an American age which swarmed with
"reformers and improvers", and which was full of "odd human figures
and many human incongruities". As a result of the lack of emphasis
on the social and intellectual context of Emerson's life, much
about Emerson, James concluded, had been left out, and "the full
picture of the Transcendental age remained to be painted" - the
most creative American age, ...