Source
Letters
What Fuller wrote, in her own hand, to friends, family, and intellectual companions. Reading mentioned in letters is the most intimate register: books shared, recommended, argued with.
- Authors
- 435
- Documented engagements
- 1210
- Documents
- 2
Totals count documented engagements, once at the earliest witness. How we count →
Reprints, Memoirs passages, and repeat notes within a single manuscript are shown but never counted twice. Evidence for letters is selective, not exhaustive. Methodology →
L-3 · Correspondence received
Letters of Ralph Waldo Emerson to Margaret Fuller1838–1850
Emerson, Ralph Waldo. Letters to Margaret Fuller, 1838–1850. In The Letters of Ralph Waldo Emerson, edited by Ralph L. Rusk. 6 vols. New York: Columbia University Press, 1939.
- Letters reviewed (Rusk)
- 21
- Letters reviewed (Myerson)
- 39
- Suggested readings
- 5
- Circle-context records
- 13
The correspondence is chiefly Dial editorial business. Harvey’s review of the Myerson selection found 5 occasions on which Emerson sends, offers or promises Fuller a book; these are recorded as “Suggested” — an engagement category, not evidence that she read them. Emerson’s secondhand reports of her reading are capped below Attested. Neither, nor Emerson’s own reading (circle context), is counted in Fuller’s totals. Fuller’s side of the exchange is catalogued under her own letters.
Engagement legend
- Ssuggested— Fuller was sent or offered the work; not evidence she read it.
Scholarly reference: Rusk, Letters of Ralph Waldo Emerson (1939), cited by volume:page and not reproduced — 2:259, 2:280–281, 2:287, 2:310–311, 2:313–314, 2:315–317, 2:322, 2:394–395, 2:435, 2:442, 2:447, 2:450, 3:47, 3:54, 3:75, 3:148–149, 3:179, 3:183, 3:250. Hosted letter texts will use public-domain transcriptions only.
Also: Ralph Waldo Emerson, The Selected Letters of Ralph Waldo Emerson, ed. Joel Myerson (New York: Columbia University Press, 1997), cited by letter date; page locators are provisional.
Suggested
- 9 November 1838Coleridge, a volume (unnamed; likely Shakespeare criticism), sentSuggested · not counted
Emerson: “I send Coleridge and greet you well in your fine studies”
Book sent to Fuller · Myerson, letter of 9 November 1838 (page locator provisional)
Work unnamed. Cannot be distinguished from the Literary Remains volume Fuller had in May 1837 (re626) and may be the same copy recirculating; linked to re626 as a related event, not counted separately.
- 17 December 1843Lydia Maria Child, Letters from New-York (inferred), offered to lendSuggested · not counted
Emerson: “Your copy, it is said, has disappeared, then I will send you mine”
Loan offered to Fuller · Myerson, letter of 17 December 1843 (page locator provisional)
Inferred Emerson does not name the book; Letters from New-York (1843) is the probable title given the December 1843 date, but it is not asserted by the letter.
Distinct from the existing Oasis record (re496; its duplicate re497 was merged into it 2026-10-11).
- 21? or 23? April 1840Edward Palmer, a "little tract," sentSuggested · not counted
Tract sent to Fuller · Myerson, letter of 21? or 23? April 1840 (page locator provisional)
Minor item; Palmer otherwise absent from the catalogue.
- 9 November 1838Jones Very, two Shakespeare dissertations (manuscripts), promisedSuggested · not counted
Manuscripts promised to Fuller · Myerson, letter of 9 November 1838 (page locator provisional)
Manuscript, not a published work. Earlier event related to the 1839 Essays on Hamlet records (re442, re443).
- 29 August 1847James John Garth Wilkinson, piece preliminary to Swedenborg's Outlines on the InfiniteSuggested · not counted
Emerson: “which you ought to see. 'Tis much the best piece of criticism on Modern Opinions, especially Transcendentalism, which has been written”
Work recommended to Fuller · Myerson, letter of 29 August 1847 (page locator provisional)
Recommendation only; not evidence that Fuller read the piece.
Reported by Emerson
- 25 September 1840The BibleReported by Emerson · not counted
Emerson: “I find you with a 'Bible in your hand'”
Secondhand report of Fuller's reading · Myerson, letter of 25 September 1840 (page locator provisional)
Corroborated by Lidian Emerson in the same letter. Secondhand corroboration of Fuller's Bible engagement (see re702), capped below Attested; no standalone record created.
- 24 May 1838Bettina von Arnim's book, in Fuller's possessionReported by Emerson · not counted
Possession (not reading) · Myerson, letter of 24 May 1838 (page locator provisional)
John Sullivan Dwight's request to borrow it, relayed by Emerson, evidences her possession — the earliest dated (1838). Possession is not reading. The copy's chain Fuller → Emerson → Ward (1838–39) is now traceable.
Provenance for existing records
- 7 June 1839Fuller's Eckermann translation, given to EmersonEnrichment · not counted
Emerson: “The Preface is a brilliant statement”
Provenance · Myerson, letter of 7 June 1839 (page locator provisional)
Corroborates the existing Eckermann record (re331).
Emerson’s own reading — circle context
- 10 April 1842Massachusetts Scientific Survey reports (Harris, Dewey, Storer, Gould, Emmons; Hitchcock's "swollen quarto")Circle context · not counted
Emerson: “I read a little lately in the 'Scientific Surveys' of Massachusetts”
Emerson's own reading · Rusk 3:47
Explicit first-person reading statement by Emerson — the strongest context record in the correspondence.
- September 1841Goethe, Werther; Plutarch, CatoCircle context · not countedProvisional
Emerson: “nothing at the bookshops but Werter & Cato by Plutarch”
Bookshop report · Rusk page unrecovered
Shows shared literary currency. Exact day and Rusk page unrecovered.
- 4 August 1840Shakespeare, OthelloCircle context · not counted
Emerson: “that can thy light relume”
Emerson quotes from memory · Rusk 2:322
Emerson quotes the line from memory.
- 21? April 1840Jean Paul RichterCircle context · not counted
Emerson: “as much manner as in Richter”
Stylistic comparator · Rusk 2:287
Emerson invokes Richter as a comparator of style.
- 22 April 1841Henry MoreCircle context · not counted
Dial editorial proposal · Rusk 2:394–395
Emerson proposes reprinting More in the Dial. Corroborating context for Fuller's 7 November 1840 More engagement; not a new Fuller record.
- September 1838Goethe, Farbenlehre (historical part)Circle context · not counted
Emerson: “very charming it is”
Emerson's own reading · Myerson, letter of September 1838 (page locator provisional)
Emerson's own reading.
- January 1844William Drummond of Hawthornden, narrative of Ben JonsonCircle context · not counted
Emerson's own reading · Myerson, letter of January 1844 (page locator provisional)
Emerson's own reading.
- March 1842Fabricius, Synesius, Lucian, ChaucerCircle context · not counted
Dial selection plans · Myerson, letter of March 1842 (page locator provisional)
Planned Dial selections; editorial context.
- 1838–1844Passing quotations: Kant, Bacon, Berkeley, Richter, Othello, Virgil (Georgics), Milton (Lycidas)Circle context · not counted
Emerson quotes in passing · Myerson, letter of 1838–1844 (page locator provisional)
Passing quotations in Emerson's letters.
- 29 August 1847Ellery Channing, a ‘little book on Rome’Circle context · not counted
Emerson: “a pretty good success... more readable than any thing he has published”
Publication assessment · Myerson, letter of 29 August 1847 (page locator provisional)
Emerson's own context; not evidence of Fuller's reading.
- 29 August 1847Thoreau, book then under contractCircle context · not counted
Publication news · Myerson, letter of 29 August 1847 (page locator provisional)
Emerson's own context; not evidence of Fuller's reading.
- 29 August 1847Massachusetts Quarterly Review, forthcomingCircle context · not counted
Periodical news · Myerson, letter of 29 August 1847 (page locator provisional)
Emerson's own context; not evidence of Fuller's reading.
- 29 August 1847Martin Luther, quotation from memoryCircle context · not counted
Emerson quotes from memory · Myerson, letter of 29 August 1847 (page locator provisional)
Emerson's own context; not evidence of Fuller's reading.
Not recorded as reading
- Harleian Miscellany (25 Nov 1839): Fuller only asks what it is — curiosity, not reading.
- Already covered by existing records: Coleridge, Literary Remains (re626); Milnes (re603); Emerson, Nature (re587); the Goethe/Zelter anecdote (re384); Henry More (re264).
- Thoreau manuscripts, Dial errata, and publication logistics: editorial provenance, not reading records.
- Letter of 11 April 1850: publication logistics for Fuller's proposed Italy book (Phillips & Sampson); no reading mentions and no record created.
Source documents · 2
- 1
Love-letters of Margaret Fuller, 1845-1846, with an introd
Letter Collection
Archive - 2
The Letters of Margaret Fuller: Edited by Robert N
Letter Collection
Archive