Lane's sizable collection of Oriental books piqued the interest of Emerson, who bought many of them after Fruitlands failed.
When Lane and his son, William, aged ten, arrived in the United States in the fall of 1842, they lived with the Alcotts for several months in the Hosmer cottage in Concord. During that time some of the frustrations that were to develop later at Fruitlands began to emerge, especially between Abigail Alcott, Bronson Alcott's wife, and Lane. Although Abigail Alcott recognized Lane's intellect, she also became aware of his arrogance. Lane wrote home to a friend that Abigail Alcott's pride and maternal instincts were inhibiting her realization of inward experiences. A letter that survives from a sort of post office established in the cottage for in-house communication, however, shows Lane with a kinder spirit. He wrote to Abigail Alcott: "You are most certainly mistaken in supposing that in any quarter your excellencies are overlooked, but you would be quite right in concluding that your bosom friends could discover no estrangements in you at any time, for faults I will not call them."
Lane's involvement with the American Transcendentalists drew mixed responses.
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