The esoteric origins of the American renaissance / Arthur Versluis.

Includes bibliographical references (217-230) and index.

Print version record.

The term "Western esotericism" refers to a wide range of spiritual currents including alchemy, Hermeticism, Kabbala, Rosicrucianism, and Christian theosophy, as well as several practical forms of esotericism like cartomancy, geomancy, necromancy, alchemy, astrology, herbalism and magic. The early presence of esotericism in north America has not been much studied, and even less so the indebtedness to esotericism of some major American literary figures. In this book, Arthur Versluis breaks new ground, showing that many writers of the so-called American Renaissance drew extensively on and were inspired by Western esoteric currents. Before offering his detailed analysis of the esoteric elements in the writings of figures from the American Renaissance, Versluis offers an overview of esotericism in Europe and its offshoots in colonial America.

1 Introduction; 2 European Esoteric Currents; 3 Esotericism in Early America; 4 The Esoteric Ambience of the American Renaissance; 5 Hitchcock; 6 Poe; 7 Hawthorne; 8 Melville; 9 Greaves; 10 Alcott; 11 Emerson; 12 Fuller; 13 Whitman; 14 Dickinson; 15 The Esoteric Origins of the American Renaissance; Notes; Bibliography; Index

English.

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