Part 3, Chapter 9 The Metaphysical Club, Section 3 Summary

Wright was part of the group that called themselves the "Septem." They lasted only three years and broke apart due to members getting married.

By 1963, Wright was in a deep depression and drinking heavily. Ephraim Gurney and Charles Eliot Norton tried to help Wright beat the depression. Gurney got the "Septem" started again, and Norton asked Wright for a contribution to the North American Review. However, in 1868, Norton went to Europe, Gurney married, and Wright started drinking again.

He never completely got over this second bout of drinking and depression. He gave up his job at the American Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac. Two of his friends, Eldridge Cutler and Charles Salter, tried to bring him out of the depression and started a new club. However, both Cutler and Salter died in 1870 and the...