Encyclopedia of Transcendentalism

Transcendentalism, a movement of theological innovation and literary experimentation arising within New England Unitarianism in the 1830s and 1840s, significantly influenced American religion, literature, education, and political culture. This reference is the first comprehensive guide to the major philosophical concepts, themes, genres, periodicals, events, organizations and movements, and places associated with Transcendentalism in the United States. Significant classical, European, Asian, and native sources and influences are included, as are later transformations.

This reference approaches the subject from a history-of-ideas perspective, embracing the inconsistencies and oddities as well as the powerful achievements of the Transcendentalists. With 145 entries by 70 expert contributors, this volume is the first comprehensive guide to the major philosophical concepts, themes, genres, periodicals, events, organizations and movements, and places associated with Transcendentalism in the United States. Significant classical, European, Asian, and native sources and influences are included, as are later manifestations and transformations. Aspects of the movement covered include religion, philosophy, literature, the arts, education, politics, science, and reform. The book features separate entry bibliographies, an extensive chronology, and a detailed index.

WESLEY T. MOTT is Professor of English at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Author of The Strains of Eloquence: Emerson and His Sermons (1989) and editor of volume 4 of The Complete Sermons of Ralph Waldo Emerson (1992), he has published articles in American Literature, Concord Saunterer, Emerson Centenary Essays, Heaven is Under our Feet: A Book for Walden Woods, New England Quarterly, Phylon, and Studies in the American Renaissance. In 1989 he organized the Ralph Waldo Emerson Society and serves as its secretary and as managing editor of Emerson Society Papers. He is on the Board of Directors of the Thoreau Society, the editorial board of the Concord Saunterer, the trustees collections committee of Fruitlands, and the advisory board of the Walden Woods Project. He is also the editor of the Biographical Dictionary of Transcendentalism (Greenwood, 1996).