Today we’re talking about a charming 1835 letter—recently found in a New England attic and purchased by the shop—from Ralph Waldo Emerson to a girl named Lucia. In the letter, Emerson exhorts his young correspondent to listen in solitude to the voices of nature, to the “great old gray ocean” and the “withered leaves that chatter in the cold March wind.” These themes would recur in his 1863 essay, Nature, a foundational text of the Transcendentalist movement. Although this particular letter is not in perfect condition, the author’s voice shines through, kindly and respectful, carrying a message that can still touch our lives today.
Brattlecast #83 - New Arrivals
Today we’ll be discussing some exciting new arrivals at the shop, as well as some possible future arrivals on the horizon. There’s an inscription from Henry Thoreau to his sister in an otherwise unremarkable volume of poetry, a first edition of The Journals of Lewis and Clark, with its rare map intact, and (hopefully, maybe!) a first edition of Catcher in the Rye. Ken also recounts some of the small daily pleasures of his working life: the undiminished thrill of handling historical documents, the fun of training new employees and reuniting with former employees from decades past, and the adventure of making an appointment to look at books in a house featuring odors, hoarding, and darkness.