Ralph Waldo Emerson (Boston, 1803 - 1882, Concord, Massachusetts)
Letter to Elizabeth Peabody from Concord, 30 October 1838
Ink on paper, 25.5 x 20 cm (10 1/16 x 7 7/8 in.)
Blue Room
Commentary
Ralph Waldo Emerson and Elizabeth Peabody were important members of American Transcendentalism, a progressive social and spiritual movement. As a pioneering Kindergarten educator, Peabody published widely on the subject of early childhood education and established a bookstore on West Street in Boston in 1839. She established her own printing press to promote Transcendentalist authors, including Emerson and the feminist Margaret Fuller. Gardner greatly admired the writers of this movement and collected numerous books, letters, and photographs associated with them.