The eBook, The Significance of Being Frank, a biography by Tom Foran Clark, can be read online here. "The Significance of Being Frank is a rare biographical gem on the Web -- a complete online biography [providing] insight into the abolitionist, publisher, and educator who was at Concord with Thoreau and Emerson and was confidential advisor to John Brown. Highly recommended" (-- Kenneth Lanxner, Editor of "Inside Lives," the online magazine for "Lives, The Biography Resource"). "Not only is this undeservedly marginalized figure brought to life in this compelling work, but the intimate details of Clark's narrative brings Sanborn's Transcendentalist world to life as well. This remarkable biography produces for the reader a direct sense of the social nerve and intellectual daring of 19th Century New England. Clark has done an outstanding job in the art of biography.... Easy to navigate, well researched, a must read for anyone seriously interested in U.S. History and American Transcendental Philosophy and Literature" ( -- Danne Polk, Philosophy Research Base, www.erraticimpact.com).

The
Significance
of Being
Frank:
The Life
& Times
of Franklin
Benjamin
Sanborn

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American Renaissance: Art and Expression in the Age of Emerson and Whitman
Matthiessen, Francis O.
New York:
Oxford University Press, 1941

This text has taken its place as the definitive treatment of the most distinguished age of American literature. Centering the discussion around five literary giants of the mid-nineteenth century -- Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne, Melville, and Whitman. Matthiessen elucidates their conceptions of the nature and function of literature, and the extent to which these were realized in their writings.

Cameron, Kenneth Walter. Concord Literary Renaissance: Ungathered Memorabilia of Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne, Sanborn, the Alcotts, Margaret Fuller and Their Connections. Transcendental Books, 1988. Fine. First edition. Cameron has put together a fascinating collection of materials gathered from newspapers in libraries and scrapbook clippings, putting fresh illumination on the work, and the reception, of the Transcendentalists in their own time. Book #01287. $40.00.

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American Heretic: Theodore Parker and Transcendentalism
Grodzins, Dean.
Chapel Hill, North Carolina:
University of North Carolina Press, 2002

Here is the first major modern biography of Theodore Parker, a preacher who rejected the authority of the Bible and of Jesus, a brilliant scholar who became a popular agitator for the abolition of slavery and for women's rights. The book also offers fresh insights into Parker's Transcendentalist colleagues, including Emerson, Margaret Fuller, and Bronson Alcott.

Hanson, Eileen (editor) The New England Transcendentalists. Lowell, Massachusetts: Discovery Enterprises/ Perspectives on History Series, 1993. First edition. Paperback. An introduction to classic essays, poetry, and conversations of the key writers and philosophers of the Transcendental movement, with brief notes and commentary. Fine. Book #00504. $11.00.

Harding, Walter, editor Henry David Thoreau: A Profile [Critical Essays]. New York: Hill & Wang [American Century/ Profiles Series], 1971. Hardcover. Provides an inquiry into the personality of a challenging, enigmatic man. Gray cloth cover, gilt. Fine d.j. in celluloid wrapper, taped. Some check marks aside chapter list in the Table of Contents, else in excellent condition. Book # 00273. $25.00.

Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich. The Philosophy of History. New York: Dover Publications, 1956. Hardcover (This Dover paperback edition has been professionally bound: a fine clean, bright hardcover binding). Preface by Charles Hegel. First published in 1956, the Dover edition is an unabridged and unaltered republication of the last revision of J. Sibree’s translation. The book is recognized as one of the six most influential books from the 19th century, today interesting to anyone interested in theories of history and cultural and social studies in our own time. Book #01274. $15.00.

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Beneath the American Renaissance: The Subversive Imagination in the Age of Emerson and Melville
Reynolds, David S.
Cambridge, Massachusetts:
Harvard University Press, 1989

Reynolds recreates the vanished literary culture that was shared by both canonical and popular writers of the period, focusing on reform literature, arguing our major writers were able to absorb the style, themes, and genres of sub-literary materials without sacrificing aesthetic control. Astonishing in its wealth of connections, this sweeping study is a landmark in the evaluation of 19th century American literature.

Jarvis, Edward [Edited by Sarah Chapin] Traditions & Reminiscences of Concord, Massachusetts, 1779-1878. Amherst: University of Massachusett Press, 1993. Introduction by Robert A. Gross. 'Jarvis escorts us through Concord -- schoolhouse, church, social clubs, library, post office, town hall, and even the tavern, where he counts patron's drinks. We learn about neighborly cooperation, social manners and respectability, and about local vices. A first-hand witness to the crusade for moral reform that transformed mid-19th century New England.' Hardcover, brilliant red. Elegant dust jacket As new. Book # 00019. $25.00

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Dreamers of Dreams:
The Rise and Fall of
19th Century Idealism
Jackson, Holbrook.
London:
Faber and Faber Limited, 1948

Tells the stories of Thomas Carlyle, John Ruskin, and William Morris, leaders of the Arts and Crafts Movement in England; and Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Walt Whitman, at the forefront of the American Renaissance. The book was published in America by Farrar, Strauss. "The writer treats his six authors as contemporaries... cannot be too highly recommended." -- America magazine. Note that there was also a 1969 American paperback reprint, titled The Rise and Fall of 19th Century Idealism, published in New York by The Citadel Press.

Loewer, Peter Thoreau's Garden: Native Plants for the American Landscape. Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania: Stackpole, 1996 First edition. Hardcover. Insightful excerpts from Thoreau's journals combined with the author's knowing comments, illuminations, and botanical illustrations. "A profusion of information you'll find invaluable." As new in likewise as new dust jacket. Book # 01035. $18.00

Marx, Leo. The Machine in the Garden: Technology and the Pastoral Ideal in America. New York: Oxford University Press, 1964. Hardcover in dust jacket. Very good/good (though there are two small d.j. spine tears and the d.j. spine is very noticeably faded/sunned, the book itself is in very nearly fine condition). Book #01272. $30.00.

Scudder, Townsend Concord: An American Town. Boston: Little Brown, 1947. First edition. Hardcover. "Tells of the founding settlers, Revolutionary battles, 19th century abolitionists. The Great Men of Concord -- Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne, Alcott, and others of the Golden Day -- give the book its peculiar richness." Splendid rust-brown cloth cover, gilt. As new in as new dust jacket. Book # 00211. $8.00.

Historical Guide to Ralph Waldo Emerson
Myerson, Joel (editor)
New York:
Oxford University Press, 2000

In his time, Emerson was the acknowledged leader of the Transcendentalist movement and his poetic legacy, education ideals, and religious concepts are integral to the formation of American intellectual life. Joel Myerson has gathered here sparkling new essays that discuss Emerson as a product of his times, highlighting his concepts of individualism, religion, science, women's rights, and antislavery.

Sanborn, Franklin Benjamin. Lectures on Literature and Philosophy: Reports of Transcendental, Biographical, and Historical Papers Read before the Concord School 1881-1888. Transcendental Books, 1975. Hardcover. Fine. First edition. Edited by Kenneth Walter Cameron. "One purpose of the present volume is to indicate the significant dimensions of F. B. Sanborn as a public lecturer, which, doubtless, in his heyday, helped contribute to his fame." Book #01285. $45.00.

Sanborn, Franklin Benjamin. Transcendental Youth and Age: Chapters in Biography and Autobiography. Transcendental Books, 1981. Hardcover. Fine. First edition. Edited by Kenneth Walter Cameron. "This gathering of papers by the leading literary historian and biographer of the American Renaissance preserves several dimensions of Sanborn’s life and gives critical perspectives on his contemporaries. The earlier pieces understandably illustrate the enthusiasms of his youth -- John Brown, Emerson, Thoreau, Alcott, Parker, participants in the Anti-Slavery movement and some of the minor Transcendentalists." Book #01284. $28.00.

Stein, William Bysshe (editor). New Approaches to Thoreau. Transcendental Books, 1969. Hardcover. Fine. First edition. With essays from contributors George Hendrick, Robert O. Evans, Joseph DeFalco, and a dozen others. Book #01286. $20.00.

Thoreau, Henry David. The First and Last Journeys of Thoreau, Lately Discovered Among his Unpublished Journals and Manuscripts. Boston: Bibliophile Society, 1905. Two volumes (mismatched; from two different libraries). Edited by Franklin Benjamin Sanborn. Hardcover. 2 volume set, gray cloth and brown leather, spine gilt. Very handsome inlay bookplate/page: 'This [Bibliophile Society] edition is limited to 489 copies. Printed for members Only.' Title page text in black and red, with blue Bibliophile Society seal. The fine, heavy woven cream-colored pages carry The Bibliophile Society watermark. Admirers "of Thoreau will appreciate the great importance of this publication, as being a valuable contribution to the literature of our country, and also as a work that will arouse a lively interest among collectors of First Editions." Ex-Library; mismatched volumes. Wear to the leather at spine, top and bottom, else very good. Book # 00072. $145.00.

Van Doren, Mark Henry David Thoreau: A Critical Study. New York: Russell & Russell/Atheneum, (Reprint of the original 1916 edition) 1961. Hardcover, forest green cloth. Uneven lacquer coating on cover cloth, else fine. Book # 00118. $25.00.

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