The Liberal Education of Charles Eliot Norton

by James C. Turner

Overview

Originally published in 1999. James Turner's biography offers the first modern account of Norton's life and its significance, following him from his perilous travels across India as a young merchant to his role as his country's preeminent cultural critic. Turner shows how Norton developed the key ideas that still underlie the humanities—historicism and culture—and how his influence endures in America's colleges and universities because of institutions he developed and models he devised.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781421435961
Publisher:	Johns Hopkins University Press
Publication date:	03/24/2020
Pages:	546
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.27(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

James Turner is the Cavanaugh Professor of Humanities at the University of Notre Dame and the director of the Erasmus Institute. His books include Without God, Without Creed and Reckoning with the Beast also available from Johns Hopkins.

Table of Contents

Preface
Acknowledgements
Prologue. The New England Clerisy
Chapter 1. Shady Hill, 1786-1842
Chapter 2. Cambridge and Boston, 1842-1851
Chapter 3. The World, 1849-1851
Chapter 4. A Merchant in the Unmaking, 1851-1855
Chapter 5. Adrift, 1855-1857
Chapter 6. A Literary Invalid, 1857-1861
Chapter 7. Toward "A Science of Ideal Politics," 1861-1865
Chapter 8. The North American, the Nation, and the Nation, 1865-1868
Chapter 9. Europe and Erudition, 1868-1872
Interlude
Chapter 10. Beginning Again
Chapter 11. Fresh Foundations of Learning, 1878-1882
Chapter 12. Olympus Ascended, 1882-1886
Chapter 13. Years that Bring the Philologic Mind, 1886-1891
Chapter 14. To Make Democracy Safe for the World, 1891-1895
Chapter 15. The Invention of Western Civilization, 1895-1898
Chapter 16. Shady Hill Again, 1898-1908
Illustrations
Notes
Sources Cited
The Published Writings of Charles Eliot Norton
Index

Editorial Reviews

James Turner offers us a superbly crafted and absorbing biography of a seminal figure in nineteenth-century American culture. In this impressive book, Turner dusts off what might seem a stuffy subject to reveal a cultural adventure.
—Anne C. Rose, Journal of American History

His book is a distinguished monument to its hero, and this monument may be more of a masterpiece than the original.
—Frederic Cople Jaher, American Historical Review

James Turner has provided, in The Liberal Education of Charles Eliot Norton, not only an excellent biography, but one of the best studies of the American mind in the nineteenth century.
—Michael O'Brien, Times Literary Supplement

James Turner's superb biography recovers the ubiquitous, orchestrating presence of Norton that irked William James and re-establishes the magnitude of his achievement. Turner's work deserves a wide readership.
—Thomas J. Brown, New England Quarterly

James Turner presents a comprehensive, authoritative account of a nearly forgotten figure who almost single-handedly invented Western Civilization as an organizing principle for liberal arts education in the United States. Turner's study raises broader intellectual questions that fall beyond the proper score of a biographical study. Turner tells Norton's stories very much like the man himself would have.
—Christopher Shannon, Weekly Standard

By far the fullest account of Norton's life that we are likely to get for a long time to come. It is remarkable that Norton is so little known today, given such eminence. We can be all the more grateful, then, for James Turner's conscientious biography, which reminds us of Norton's many accomplishments and of the varied kind of life one person could lead during the 19th century.
—Rochelle Gurstein, Wall Street Journal

An elegantly written, highly detailed biography of the life, times, and scholarly contributions of Charles Eliot Norton.
—Edward E. Gordon, History of Education Quarterly

This important work offers the prospect of restoring Norton to his rightful position in American intellectual history.
—Choice

From the Publisher

His book is a distinguished monument to its hero, and this monument may be more of a masterpiece than the original.

American Historical Review - Frederic Cople Jaher

By far the fullest account of Norton's life that we are likely to get for a long time to come. It is remarkable that Norton is so little known today, given such eminence. We can be all the more grateful, then, for James Turner's conscientious biography, which reminds us of Norton's many accomplishments and of the varied kind of life one person could lead during the 19th century.

Wall Street Journal - Rochelle Gurstein

James Turner offers us a superbly crafted and absorbing biography of a seminal figure in nineteenth-century American culture. In this impressive book, Turner dusts off what might seem a stuffy subject to reveal a cultural adventure.

Journal of American History - Anne C. Rose

"This important work offers the prospect of restoring Norton to his rightful position in American intellectual history."

Choice

James Turner presents a comprehensive, authoritative account of a nearly forgotten figure who almost single-handedly invented Western Civilization as an organizing principle for liberal arts education in the United States. Turner's study raises broader intellectual questions that fall beyond the proper score of a biographical study. Turner tells Norton's stories very much like the man himself would have.

Weekly Standard - Christopher Shannon

An elegantly written, highly detailed biography of the life, times, and scholarly contributions of Charles Eliot Norton.

History of Education Quarterly - Edward E. Gordon

James Turner's superb biography recovers the ubiquitous, orchestrating presence of Norton that irked William James and re-establishes the magnitude of his achievement. Turner's work deserves a wide readership.

New England Quarterly - Thomas J. Brown

James Turner has provided, in The Liberal Education of Charles Eliot Norton, not only an excellent biography, but one of the best studies of the American mind in the nineteenth century.

Times Literary Supplement - Michael O'Brien