Margaret Fuller’s Reading Worlds

The Bible

Old Testament · New Testament

Fuller engaged with Scripture throughout her life, from childhood letters to her final Italian dispatches.

Documented engagement · 1820–1846

letters • books • journals • notebooks • manuscripts

Most frequently cited books of scripture: Gospel of Matthew, Gospel of Luke, Genesis, Gospel of John, Exodus, Kings.

Also referenced as Old Testament, New Testament, Hebrew Scripture, Holy Scripture, Scripture, the Bible, Holy Writ.

An engagement is a documented encounter with a scriptural text — quoted, translated, or discussed. A mention is a scriptural name or allusion with no evidence of direct engagement. Repeated allusions within a single source count once for that source. Data dictionary →

On this page, books of scripture are shown in aggregate; for book-by-book treatment see Biblical Reading Worlds.

Explore Fuller’s biblical engagements in depth → Biblical Reading Worlds

When Fuller engaged with Scripture

I. Childhood1record
II. Adolescence2records
III. Self-Directed13records
IV. Transcendentalist26records
V. New York46records
VI. Europe28records
✦. Memoirs (1852)
1810
1820
1832
1836
1844
1846
1850

Across Fuller’s writings

  • Life Without and Life Within; or, Reviews, Narratives, Essays, and Poems50
  • Papers on Literature and Art15
  • The Letters of Margaret Fuller, Vol. I: 1817-183812
  • Summer on the Lakes, in 184310
  • Notebook: Sir Thomas Browne9
  • Woman in the Nineteenth Century8
  • Brook Farm, New Year's Eve4
  • Love-Letters of Margaret Fuller, 1845-18464

and 36 further manuscripts, journals, and letter series.

Select engagements

A representative selection drawn from across Fuller’s books, letters, journals, and notebooks, in chronological order.

1820—

Letter to Timothy Fuller

quoted · read
“I shall finish this letter with the Lords prayer in Latin [...] Noster pater qui estis in coelo sis sacrum tuum nomen, tua voluntas esto factus in terra ut in coelo, da nos eum diem nostrum quotidianum cererem et da veniam nobis nostra peccata ut da veniam eis qui peccant nobis duco nos non temptationem et trade a peccato tuum est imperium, potestas et gloria semper.”

Fuller, Margaret. The Letters of Margaret Fuller. Edited by Robert N. Hudspeth. Vol. I. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1983.

Inferred Identification rationale not yet recorded.

1834—

Journal 1833–1834

p53
analyzed · quoted · read
“And Jesus answering said unto them Have faith in [underlined: God.]”

Fuller, Margaret. "Journal 1833–1834." Houghton Library, Harvard University; bMS Am 1086 (4); Box 5 (83).

Inferred Identification rationale not yet recorded.

1834—

Fragmentary Reading Notes and Autobiographical Reflections

p9
analyzed · readManuscript page
“He overlooks the fact that God obliged the Israelites to wander forty years as a punishment _ If he can believe that God fed them daily with manna from heaven why can he not believe this also And why suspect Joshua and Caleb of such a crime rather than believe The tradition… the Deity of those books with all his terrible magnificence is a Moloch in our eyes… in believing the New Testament I must receive the Old”

Fuller, Margaret. "Fragmentary Reading Notes and Autobiographical Reflections." Houghton Library, Harvard University.

Inferred Identification rationale not yet recorded.

1835—

Notebook January 1835

pp. 3–63
excerpted · analyzed · readManuscript page
“Chapter 1st / General Reflections on Hebrew Literature. […] 32d / Philo never mentions Nehemiah. Ruth / Esther, Chronicles, Daniel, Jeremiah. the / Preacher or Solomon's song. […] Exodus.”

Fuller, Margaret. "Notebook January 1835." Houghton Library, Harvard University; bMS Am 1086 (86); Box 6.

Inferred Fuller engages with the Old Testament throughout the notebook as the subject of Eichhorn's analysis; she discusses Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther individually by name and quotes from them via Eichhorn.

Cataloged as one composite row for the Hebrew Bible; individual books are named in notes.

1835—

Poems, Others

p10
quoted · readManuscript page
“And when the Lord saw her he had compassion on her and said unto her, Weep not.”

Fuller, Margaret. "Poems, Others." Houghton Library, Harvard University; bMS Am 1086.

Inferred Fuller copies a direct quotation from the Gospel of Luke 7:13–14 (KJV: the raising of the widow of Nain's son) and attributes it explicitly to 'St. Luke.' This passage appears in the context of Keble's 'Burial of the Dead,' which similarly begins with the same Luke 7 narrative as its scriptural epigraph. Title inferred from the cited passage; author-attribution is the New Testament tradition, not a specific person.

1835—

Plan for the Coming Six Months

p. 2
quoted · readManuscript page
“Vouchsafe then thy protection that I may "hold on in courage of soul.”

Fuller, Margaret. "Plan for the Coming Six Months." Houghton Library, Harvard University.

Inferred Specific source not identified; the phrasing is devotional in character.

1838—

Journal Entry August 1838

p1
quoted · readSearch Digital Fuller (page unverified)
“An inexpressible happiness, the peace that passeth understanding, stole over me.”

Fuller, Margaret. "Journal Entry August 1838." Houghton Library, Harvard University; MS Am 1086; Box 5.

Inferred The phrase 'the peace that passeth understanding' is a verbatim quotation of Philippians 4:7 (KJV): 'And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.' Fuller uses it as a stock scriptural phrase for spiritual serenity experienced during her walk. Author and title both inferred — Fuller does not cite Paul or the Epistle; the phrase is universally recognized from the KJV Philippians.

1840—

Starry Night Meditation

p2–p3
readManuscript page
“The ancient Shepherd stood / As night to night he viewed / These glory, clustered bards / In Heaven's vast solitude / [...] Then — "what is man"? / He sang, "the child of clay;”

Fuller, Margaret. "Starry Night Meditation." Boston Public Library Archives & Special Collections; MS Am. 1450; Box: 3, Folder: 129.

Inferred Psalm 8:3–4 (KJV): 'When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him?' The psalmist is traditionally identified as David the shepherd, gazing at the night sky.

1841—

Journal November 1841

p10
quoted · readSearch Digital Fuller (page unverified)
“And look that thou make them after their pattern which was showed thee in the mount (of vision) / Exodus XXV - 40”

Fuller, Margaret. "Journal November 1841." Houghton Library, Harvard University; MS Am 1086; Box 5.

Inferred Fuller cites 'Exodus XXV - 40' explicitly by chapter and verse, making Old Testament the identified source. Title inferred (as 'Inferred') only in the sense that she names Exodus rather than 'Old Testament / Bible' generically; the specific Book and verse are explicit.

Fuller cites 'Exodus XXV - 40' explicitly by chapter and verse, making Old Testament the identified source.

1841—

On Dreams and Sorrow

p2
readManuscript page
“Then I was with Abraham on the plains of Mamre, this was a dream worth noting I never even thought of the situation before.”

Fuller, Margaret. "On Dreams and Sorrow." Boston Public Library Archives & Special Collections; MS Am. 1450; Box 3, Folder 132.

Inferred She notes it as 'a dream worth noting' and says it gave her 'the greatest refreshment I have had this dreadful month.' Author anonymous (biblical tradition, Old Testament); title inferred from context.