_ George William Curtis was born in Providence, February 24, 1824. From the age of six to eleven he was in the school of C.W. Greene at Jamaica Plain, and then, until he was fifteen, attended school in Providence. His brother Burrill, two years older, was his inseparable companion, and they were strongly attached to each other. About 1835 Curtis came under the influence of Ralph Waldo Emerson, who was heard by him in Providence, and who commanded his boyish admiration. Burrill Curtis has said of this interest of himself and his brother that it proved to be the cardinal event of their youth; and what this experience was he has described.
       "I still recall," he says, "the impressions produced by Emerson's delivery of his address on 'The Over-Soul' in Mr. Hartshorn's school-room in Providence. He seemed to speak as an inhabitant of heaven, and with the inspiration and authority of a prophet. Although a large part of the matter of that discourse, when reduced to its lowest terms, does not greatly differ from the commonplaces of piety and religion, yet its form and its tone were so fresh and vivid that they made the matter also seem to be uttered for the first time, and to be a direct outcome from the inmost source of the highest truth. We heard Emerson lecture frequently, and made his personal acquaintance. My enthusiastic admiration of him and his writings soon mounted to a high and intense hero-worship, which, when it subsided, seems to have left me ever since incapable of attaching myself as a follower to any other man. How far George shared such feelings, if at all, I cannot precisely say; but he so far shared my enthusiastic admiration as to be led a willing captive to Emerson's attractions, and to the incidental attractions of the movement of which he was the head; and Emerson always continued to command from us both the sincerest reverence and homage."
       Burrill went so far as to discontinue the use of money and animal food; both the brothers discarded the conventional costumes in matters of dress, and their interest was enlisted in the reforms of the day. The family removed to New York in 1839, George studied at home with tutors, and was an attendant at the church of Dr. Orville Dewey. _

Early Life At Brook Farm And Concord
   Early Life At Brook Farm And Concord - Intro
   Early Life At Brook Farm And Concord - Chapter 1
   Early Life At Brook Farm And Concord - Chapter 2
   Early Life At Brook Farm And Concord - Chapter 3
   Early Life At Brook Farm And Concord - Chapter 4
   Early Life At Brook Farm And Concord - Chapter 5
   Early Life At Brook Farm And Concord - Chapter 6
   Early Life At Brook Farm And Concord - Chapter 7
Early Letters To John S. Dwight
   Early Letters To John S. Dwight - Chapter 1
   Early Letters To John S. Dwight - Chapter 2
   Early Letters To John S. Dwight - Chapter 3
   Early Letters To John S. Dwight - Chapter 4
   Early Letters To John S. Dwight - Chapter 5
   Early Letters To John S. Dwight - Chapter 6
   Early Letters To John S. Dwight - Chapter 7
   Early Letters To John S. Dwight - Chapter 8
   Early Letters To John S. Dwight - Chapter 9
   Early Letters To John S. Dwight - Chapter 10
   Early Letters To John S. Dwight - Chapter 11
   Early Letters To John S. Dwight - Chapter 12
   Early Letters To John S. Dwight - Chapter 13
   Early Letters To John S. Dwight - Chapter 14
   Early Letters To John S. Dwight - Chapter 15
   Early Letters To John S. Dwight - Chapter 16
   Early Letters To John S. Dwight - Chapter 17
   Early Letters To John S. Dwight - Chapter 18
   Early Letters To John S. Dwight - Chapter 19
   Early Letters To John S. Dwight - Chapter 20
   Early Letters To John S. Dwight - Chapter 21
   Early Letters To John S. Dwight - Chapter 22
   Early Letters To John S. Dwight - Chapter 23
   Early Letters To John S. Dwight - Chapter 24
   Early Letters To John S. Dwight - Chapter 25
   Early Letters To John S. Dwight - Chapter 26
   Early Letters To John S. Dwight - Chapter 27
   Early Letters To John S. Dwight - Chapter 28
   Early Letters To John S. Dwight - Chapter 29
   Early Letters To John S. Dwight - Chapter 30
   Early Letters To John S. Dwight - Chapter 31
   Early Letters To John S. Dwight - Chapter 32
   Early Letters To John S. Dwight - Chapter 33
   Early Letters To John S. Dwight - Chapter 34
   Early Letters To John S. Dwight - Chapter 35
   Early Letters To John S. Dwight - Chapter 36
   Early Letters To John S. Dwight - Chapter 37
   Early Letters To John S. Dwight - Chapter 38
   Early Letters To John S. Dwight - Chapter 39
   Early Letters To John S. Dwight - Chapter 40
   Early Letters To John S. Dwight - Chapter 41
Letters Of Later Date
   Letters Of Later Date - Chapter 1
   Letters Of Later Date - Chapter 2
   Letters Of Later Date - Chapter 3
   Letters Of Later Date - Chapter 4
   Letters Of Later Date - Chapter 5
   Letters Of Later Date - Chapter 6
   Letters Of Later Date - Chapter 7
   Letters Of Later Date - Chapter 8
   Letters Of Later Date - Chapter 9
   Letters Of Later Date - Chapter 10
   Letters Of Later Date - Chapter 11
   Letters Of Later Date - Chapter 12
   Letters Of Later Date - Chapter 13
   Letters Of Later Date - Chapter 14
   Letters Of Later Date - Chapter 15
   Letters Of Later Date - Chapter 16
   Letters Of Later Date - Chapter 17
   Letters Of Later Date - Chapter 18
   Letters Of Later Date - Chapter 19
   Letters Of Later Date - Chapter 20
   Letters Of Later Date - Chapter 21