[Letter] 1838 April 24, Concord, [Mass.] [to] Rev. O.S. Dwight, Boston / R. W. Emerson.

The letter is date-stamped from Concord and bears the impression of a seal. See also other letters in the collection from Emerson.

Emerson declares that he is determind to "have my philosophers together" and mentions Mr. Alcott by name. Controversial schoolmaster Alcott advocated independent thinking in education, and was a proponent of the anti-slavery, vegetarian, temperance movements; he established an unsuccessful utopian community and fathered Louisa May Alcott whose _Little Women_ (1868) helped relieve the family's financial straits; Alcott's influence extended over the writing of Emerson, Thoreau, and Hawthorne. Emerson established the foundation for transcendentalism, a philosophy derived in part from European Romanticism, becoming one of its most well-known spokespersons with the publication of _Nature_ (1836) and "The American Scholar." Actively writing essays, lectures, and poems during the period known as the American renaissance (1835-65), Emerson also helped launch _The Dial_ (1840) a magazine for expressing transcendental philosophies and ideas.