-
-
Self Reliance
Essayist, poet, and philosopher, Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803???1882) propounded a transcendental idealism emphasizing self-reliance, self-culture, and individual expression. The six essays and one address included in this volume, selected from , (1841) and , (1844), offer a representative sampling of his views outlining that moral idealism as well as a hint of the later skepticism that colored his thought. In addition to the celebrated title essay, the others included here are “History,” “Friendship,” “The Over-Soul,” “The Poet,” and “Experience,” plus the well-known and frequently read Harvard Divinity School Address.
-
The Essays of Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson, Alfred Kazin observes in his Introduction, “was a great writer who turned the essay into a form all his own.” His celebrated essays–the twelve published in , (1841) and eight in , (1844)–are here presented for the first time in an authoritative one-volume edition, which incorporates all the changes and corrections Emerson made after their initial publication.,The text is reproduced from the second and third volumes of ,, a critical edition which draws on the vast body of Emerson scholarship of the last half century. Alfred R. Ferguson was founding editor of the edition, followed by Joseph Slater (until 1996)
-
The Essential Writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson
The definitive collection of Emerson???s major speeches, essays, and poetry, The Essential Writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson chronicles the life???s work of a true ???American Scholar.??? As one of the architects of the transcendentalist movement, Emerson embraced a philosophy that championed the individual, emphasized independent thought, and prized ???the splendid labyrinth of one???s own perceptions.??? More than any writer of his time, he forged a style distinct from his European predecessors and embodied and defined what it meant to be an American. Matthew Arnold called Emerson???s essays ???the most important work done in prose.???
