Building Their Own Waldos: Emerson’s First Biographers and the Politics of Life-Writing in the Gilded Age

Contents

vii  Contents Acknowledgments ix Introduction: Building Their Own Waldos xiii Abbreviations xxvii O N E A Genre in Transition: Biography in the 1880s 1 T W O An Act of Wholesome and Pure-hearted Admiration: Emerson’s First Biographer, George Willis Cooke 13 T H R E E Biographers and the Pornographer: Conway, Ireland, and “Emerson and His Friends” 39 F O U R Diagnosing the Gentle Iconoclast: Dr. Holmes on Emerson 73 viii C O N T E N T S F I V E Authorizing Emerson’s Biography: Cabot and/or Edward Emerson 99 S I X Shelf Life: The Legacy of Emerson’s First Biographies 121 Notes 135 Bibliography 169 Index 181 ...