The Infinitude of the Private Man: Emerson’s Presence in Western New York, 1851-1861

Recent scholarship has uncovered much that is significant in the work of the later Emerson, especially in his lectures of the forties and fifties. This book relates Ralph Waldo Emerson’s 1851-1861 lecturing in Western New York state to the reform movements and other enthusiasms rampant in this region at this time. Engstrom asserts a bond of mutual influence between Emerson and his reform-minded audiences due to the emphasis of both on change and individual potential. A particular influence is seen through portions of an eighteen-year correspondence between Emerson and one Western New York woman with whom he became acquainted in 1850.

The Author: Sallee Fox Engstrom retired in 1986 from Cornell University where she taught English and technical writing for several years. She accepted a teaching fellowship at the University of Denver in 1988, completing her Ph.D. degree in Literary Studies in 1994.