Product Description
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." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (19)

Emerson Reviewed
When I was a freshman in my second semester in college, my English professor said to me, "Your writing is so very Emersonian. Do you mean to write like him?" I hadn't read a word of Emerson, but then again, I hadn't read anything. I later checked out Emerson's collected works from the library, began reading, and have loved him ever since. The more I read, the more I discovered that I was unworthy of the comparison my teacher had drawn. Emerson is nobody's peer.

"If God appeared in 19th Century America," said Harold Bloom, "It was as Ralph Waldo Emerson." My personal favorites: The American Scholar, Divinity School Address, Circles, Nature, Self Reliance, Friendship, Representative Men.

Emerson:
"Beware when the great God lets loose a thinker on this planet. Then all things are at risk. It is as when a conflagration has broken out in a great city, and no man knows what is safe, or where it will end. There is not a piece of science but its flank may be turned tomorrow; there is not any literary reputation, not the so-called eternal names of fame, that may not be revised and condemned. The very hopes of man, the thoughts of his heart, the religion of nations, the manners and morals of mankind are all at the mercy of a new generalization."

The following passage from Emerson's Essay Montaigne; or The Skeptic:
"Although knaves win in every political struggle, although society seems to be delivered over from the hands of one set of criminals into the hands of another set of criminals, as fast as the government changes--yet, general ends are somehow answered. We see now events which seem to retard or retrograde the civility of ages, but the world spirit is a good swimmer, and storms and waves cannot drown him. He snaps his finger at laws: and so through the years and the centuries, through evil agents, through toys and atoms, a great and beneficent tendency irresistibly streams."

Great edition of a great writer
I have nothing to add to the other excellent reviews on this page. This is an awesome collection of essays and poems for an unbeatable price. One other reviewer complained about the print, but I think the print is beautiful and really fits the tone of the essays themselves. If you don't already own some Emerson, buy this collection.

Disappointed
I am very disappointed!The print in this edition is too small!I recommend getting "the library of america" edition of the writings of Emerson.

A great anthology and a great man!
In "The Varieties of Religious Experience," William James devotes an early chapter to a type of personality most of us have known: the man who is perennially optimistic and cheerful, and almost always in a sunny mood.This "healthy mind," says James, is easy to see in a person like Walt Whitman --- and he would doubtless have included Ralph Waldo Emerson as another obvious example.In such persons, according to James, "happiness is congenital and irreclaimable."Matthew Arnold put it this way: "Emerson's systematic benevolence comes from what he himself calls somewhere his 'persistent optimism,' and his persistent optimism is the root of his greatness and the source of his charm."

One of the golden nuggets in this Emerson anthology is the famous essay on "Self-Reliance."Modern readers might imagine that this essay would be about economics, but not so: the heart of it is this ---

"There is a time in every man's education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself, for better, for worse, as his portion; that though the wide universe is full of good, no kernel of nourishing corn can come to him but through his toil bestowed on that plot of ground which is given to him to till.The power which resides in him is new in nature, and none but he knows what that is which he can do, nor does he know until he has tried."

To put it in other words, "Know thyself" (Socrates would agree) and "Be thyself." Aping celebrities and adopting ideologies are no part of self-reliance; in fact, Emerson explicitly deplores men who have become slaves of an ideology. "If I know your sect I anticipate your argument." In fact, "whoso would be a man, must be a nonconformist."Conformity makes men not just false in a few small things, but false in everything.

This is most excellent advice, and should be followed while reading Emerson --- or anyone else.You will find yourself disagreeing with him from time to time, and Emerson himself would surely approve and applaud.

The physical book reviewed here is extremely well-edited and well-made.The introduction by Mary Oliver is excellent and helpful.Unless you become a true Emerson devotee, this volume is likely to be all you need.

Eye Opening Essays
If the words of Whitman do not prompt one to at least explore the ideas of Ralph Waldo Emerson, nothing I say will be able to (or should). I suppose though many readers have merely seen Emerson's name after a famous quote or heard it mentioned by others and are curious about what he wrote.

The books contains his most essential, influential essays. Each contain classical Emerson thought, unique, hard to pin down, literary... Emerson was known for "trumping the logicians" and appealing to the soul of man. Indeed he does.

I have not read this book in its totality, but of the works I have, I have read thoroughly, as thoroughly as I have read perhaps anything, and I must say there is something undeniable about Emerson's reasoning. It is not logical in the dry fashion of philosophy, yet it is poetically, "humanly" appealing.

All I can say is read Emerson. He was and is one of America's most influencital writers. Some like him, some hate him, some appreciate though not totally agree with things he sets for (like myself). This particular book presents a good overview of his most renowned works, is affordable, and has a nice introduction. Highly recommended. ... Read more

Product Description
From one of the greatest figures of 19th-century America...

This new edition offers a broad view of the author's finest work, featuring his critical essays, poems, and letters, plus a considerable amount of material from the Journals, including an entry discovered in 1964 in the Library of Congress. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Discover the Mysteries of the Universe.
For the soul searching for fresh air, the ideas and information presented to the reader in this book are truly refreshing, as the essays and other writings offered in this book are truly extraordinary and have been abandoned in today's educational system. Emerson emphasizes the individual's place in the universe rather than the servile role offered by contemporary society's pump em out produce isle. Also, If the reader of this reveiw is interested in finding transcendental answers about the universe through direct experience seek out titles by an author of the name Samael Aun Weor. In his titles, he instruction for the development of one's soul is limitless and will afford the opportunity to explore the dimensions of the universe ignored by many.

Timeless Wisdom
Emerson may well be the greatest man of letters America has yet produced. His vision of human nature and man's place in the universe contains as much truth today as when it was written. This selection is a solid representation of his thought and writings and can be read again and again for pleasure and for profit. Emerson is one of those rare lights that every thinking person should be exposed to. Read this or buy it for a student that you really care about.

Very good book, excellent quality, plenty of writings
Contains several writings by Ralph Waldo Emerson including Walden, Essay's 1: Art, Friendship, Self reliance Essay's 2: The Poet, Gifts, Nature, Politics, Nominalist and realist. It also contains his famous The American Scholar writing, The Trancendentalist, and the book of English Traits: Wealth, First Visit to England, Race, Manners, Charactor. Also includes info on non - conformity and several poems and society/ political protocal.

Very good book, excellent quality, plenty of writings
Contains several writings by Ralph Waldo Emerson including Walden, Essay's 1: Art, Friendship, Self reliance Essay's 2: The Poet, Gifts, Nature, Politics, Nominalist and realist. It also contains his famous The American Scholar writing, The Trancendentalist, and the book of English Traits: Wealth, First Visit to England, Race, Manners, Charactor. Also includes info on non - conformity and several poems and society/ political protocal.

Discusses principles of life, living and our nature.
Emerson is quoted as often as any other writer or speaker. Not becausea few lines here and there are profound. Rather because he understands moreabout human beings and life. He is thought provoking and so deep its a joyto read the same essay several times. If people take the time to read itthey will understand many things about life they can't get other places.Ifind it interesting we live in a period of time where civilization is farmore advanced yet it appears Emerson knew manythings society stilldoesn't get. There have probably only been a handfull of what people callMasters of life. Those people who had few equals. Without question Emersonis one of these people.If you haven't read the essay Compensation you aremissing a very important classic which will speak to you like it waswritten today. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Regarding the 1928 Wise and Co. Publication
I was skeptical prior to purchasing this book. I was weary that the print might be too tiny to read or that the material would be condensed, but I was very impressed when I purchased the book. It was a wonderful and complete copy. I wouldn't spend the kind of money purchasing each individual works by Emerson nor would I spend the extra effort purchasing sets of his work. This is a complete and readable copy.

A wonderful introduction to Emerson
This is a popular edition of Emerson, published, I think, at the tail end of the era when Emerson was a household name. The look of the book suggests that it was published for the convenience of those then-millions of people who might not've read much Emerson but who believed they ought to. On about a third of the pages there is a box in the middle of the page, around which the text flows, in which an arresting excerpt from the text is printed in large italics.

I'd love to think that something like this book, skilfully marketed, would help put Emerson back on lots of bookshelves. It probably wouldn't, I know. Anyway, it's a reminder of a time when Wm. H. Wise, at least, still believed it was possible. ... Read more

Product Description
Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803 – April 27, 1882) was an American essayist, philosopher, poet, and leader of the Transcendentalist movement in the early 19th century. His teachings directly influenced the growing New Thought movement of the mid 1800s.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

Transcend this
You don't have to be a 19th Century New England transcendentalist to appreciate Ralph Waldo Emerson. He didn't prefer that designation either, though credited as the movement's founder. This book was instrumental in steering one 15-year-old to a lifelong appreciation and constant pusuit of classic literature and whatever we can call a distinctively American philosophy. Ummm... that was me, 1978.

Open up Emerson's Essays to any page, and put your finger on any single sentence.You'll have an entire sermon at your fingertip which you can apply--or merely ponder.

--Tom Field

Kindle users avoid this version
Though it's only a few dollars, the Kindle version of this must-have book does not include a table of contents! Unless you want to read the 1000 page book from cover to cover, avoid this version.

About the Heritage Press Edition in Slipcase
An edition with an excellent pedigree.

The Heritage Press edition of the Essays of Ralph Waldo Emerson: The First Series and The Second Series bears the spine title "Heritage Anniversary Edition."

One of the largest volumes ever produced by Heritage. Based on the original designs of master printer John Henry Nash, it derived its style from a Nicolas Jensen 1478 edition of Plutarch! Thus we have a 20th century book composed like a piece from the Renaissance with two color printing and a large 18 point Cloister Lightface, an elegant and "mellow" typeface derived from a Jensen design. Really, quite an impressive and distinctive interior.

In a red slipcase. Bound in tan buckram at the spine with red and gold details, three-quarters green and tan marbled French paper. Red page edges, 262 pp in a sewn binding.

Introduction by Edward F. O'Day.

Another Excellent Mid-Century Release from Heritage
An edition with an excellent pedigree.

The Heritage Press edition of the Essays of Ralph Waldo Emerson: The First Series and The Second Series bears the spine title "Heritage Anniversary Edition."

One of the largest volumes ever produced by Heritage. Based on the original designs of master printer John Henry Nash, it derived its style from a Nicolas Jensen 1478 edition of Plutarch! Thus we have a 20th century book composed like a piece from the Renaissance with two color printing and a large 18 point Cloister Lightface, an elegant and "mellow" typeface derived from a Jensen design. Really, quite an impressive and distinctive interior.

In a red slipcase. Bound in tan buckram at the spine with red and gold details, three-quarters green and tan marbled French paper. Red page edges, 262 pp in a sewn binding.

Introduction by Edward F. O'Day.

The Essays of Ralph Waldo Emerson
Emerson's works require repetitous reading and re-reading. Anyone that says you can "get it" from a single read doesn't understand the man or the truths he reveals about life and the universe. To call Emerson a transcendentalist is a cliche and the one calling him this doesn't understand that Emerson was about the here and now.

His best works for a truth seeker are Self-Reliance, Compensation and the Over-Soul. I suggest reading Compensation at least every night for three weeks. The world changes once you do.

To put Emerson in the same category as literary writers like those other reviewers have done is an injustice. He definitely deserves reading and he is an American writer, but he's more akin to Lao Tse than any American poet or novelist. They have a moment or two, Emerson is constant. ... Read more

Product Description
The most comprehensive collection ever assembled gathersevery poem Emerson published during his lifetime along with the bestof the unpublished verse from his manuscripts, journals, and notebooksto offer readers for the first time the full range of his astonishingpoetry. Includes poems hitherto available only in specializedscholarly versions, as well as revealing translations of mystical,sensuous Persian poems and of Dante's "Vita Nuova." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Emerson Reviewed
When I was a freshman in my second semester in college, my English professor said to me, "Your writing is so very Emersonian. Do you mean to write like him?" I hadn't read a word of Emerson, but then again, I hadn't read anything. I later checked out Emerson's collected works from the library, began reading, and have loved him ever since. The more I read, the more I discovered that I was unworthy of the comparison my teacher had drawn. Emerson is nobody's peer.

"If God appeared in 19th Century America," said Harold Bloom, "It was as Ralph Waldo Emerson." My personal favorites: The American Scholar, Divinity School Address, Circles, Nature, Self Reliance, Friendship, Representative Men.

Emerson:
"Beware when the great God lets loose a thinker on this planet. Then all things are at risk. It is as when a conflagration has broken out in a great city, and no man knows what is safe, or where it will end. There is not a piece of science but its flank may be turned tomorrow; there is not any literary reputation, not the so-called eternal names of fame, that may not be revised and condemned. The very hopes of man, the thoughts of his heart, the religion of nations, the manners and morals of mankind are all at the mercy of a new generalization."

The following passage from Emerson's Essay Montaigne; or The Skeptic:
"Although knaves win in every political struggle, although society seems to be delivered over from the hands of one set of criminals into the hands of another set of criminals, as fast as the government changes--yet, general ends are somehow answered. We see now events which seem to retard or retrograde the civility of ages, but the world spirit is a good swimmer, and storms and waves cannot drown him. He snaps his finger at laws: and so through the years and the centuries, through evil agents, through toys and atoms, a great and beneficent tendency irresistibly streams."

Very nicely done
This whole series is very nicely done! I purchased the 3 Steinbeck books for myself and the 4 Emerson books for my girlfriend.

The presentation is very nice, the binding, the bookkmark ribbon, the print and paper quality. I'm an iPad/Kindle guy but it's nice to hold a real book of quality once in a while.

The poetry of mind is only sometimes soulful
The aphoristic, enigmatic, cryptic, verse of Emerson is collected here in its entirety. Much comes from his notebooks and journals. Emerson was criticized among others by Mathew Arnold for lacking ' the soul' of the poet. And it is true that the music of his verse is often a rough, awkward, intellectual one. And that what is memorable in it comes as a line here or there which could well come from his essays.
Nonetheless there are memorable lines and a few poems which enter the heart and mind, perhaps because once read in childhood anthology they remain as part of one's inner landscape. For me Emerson as a poet is primarily isolated like the most memorable Emerson of all,
" By the rude bridge/ that arched the flood/ their flag the April breeze unfurled /Here once the embattled farmers stood and fired' "The shot heard round the world".
In another sense Emerson appreciated Poetry and was the patron , and capable of recognizing the great value of , arguably, the ur- American poet, Whitman.
Reading the poetry is often a quite complicated intellectual exercise. But it is also one which yields new ideas, though perhaps those ideas are not felt as deeply as poetry should make us feel.
... Read more

Product Description
American Scholar Digital Editions is proud and privileged to offer the twelve volume set of “The Complete Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson” in electronic book format for the first time. Our editions are based on the Centenary Edition published in 1903 and edited by Edward Waldo Emerson.

There can hardly be an argument that Ralph Waldo Emerson is the greatest humanist/philosophical mind produced in the Western Hemisphere. Over a 120 years ago, the legendary German philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche, a man not given to praising his contemporaries much, if at all, picked Emerson as the best there was writing in English. (And he handily reworked Emersonian themes without attribution, I should add.)

From a literary/artistic point of view; the 12 volumes - The Complete Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson - represent a truly astonishing body of thought, both in depth and breadth. To read a paragraph, an essay, or an entire volume is to hear a series of bells chiming with truth. The Emersonian style - taut sentences carrying shimmering ideas - cascades page on page, covering the scope of human experience: friendship, death, love, God, nature, commerce, education, evil, grace, politics... Emerson writes on each with a passion and lucidity that always leaves lovers of the finest prose breathless. His poetry (and he thought of himself as primarily a poet) is a fine grouping that takes us along a spiritual journey - from the death of his beloved son - to odes written for a favorite riverbank. His biographies of such figures as Michelangelo, Napoleon and Plato are insightful ... delightful ... and as understanding as any written in the English language.

A classic ‘classic’, “The Complete Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson” is a timelessly crafted monument to human intellect. Every page is replete with vintage genius to be sipped and savored like the finest wines.


Ted Dracos, Editor and Publisher
American Scholar Digital Editions
... Read more

Product Description
So writes the man whose life we are to pass in review, and it is certainly as true of him as of any author we could name. He delineates himself so perfectly in his various writings that the careful reader sees his nature just as it was in all its essentials, and has little more to learn than those human accidents which individualize him in space and time. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A realistic biography
Oliver Wendell Holmes describes Emerson as an intellectual mystic, as opposed to an emotional one.This probably places Emerson very much in line with Holmes' own temperament -- this Holmes is the father of the famous and intellectually accomplished Supreme Court justice; Holmes, Sr. was himself a medical doctor and man of letters in New England.What Holmes describes as intellectual mysticism as opposed to emotional mysticism shows that Emerson never lost a realistic grounding of his beliefs, and always kept a firm grasp on things such as common sense and self reliance.

Joel Porte introduces the text, written in 1885, talking about the odd choice the rationalist Holmes must have seemed to the Transcendentalist canonisers who would have wanted a more sympathetic character.However, Holmes' overall personality made him an ideal biographer, with much more credibility in the end than a true-believing disciple of Emerson would have had in a similar biographical effort.Both Holmes and Emerson were seekers after truth, and in such had a similar spirit; both also had a good sense for the ridiculous, and managed to remain level-headed among otherwise unstable environments.

Holmes identifies Emerson as belonging to the New England 'Academic' race -- Emerson is a name that is common among academics and ministers generation after generation.This kind of inheritance is more than just cultural in Emerson's view, and in Holmes' view, who before addressing his subject, looks at the several generations back of Emerson's forebears.

Emerson finds inspiration in the things about him -- in nature, in society, and in himself.Emerson has a deep and abiding concern for the transcendent unity of all things, and that there is a spirit in the world that keeps the world together.Emerson was born into a society at a unique period, a coalescing of the first truly American generation of thinkers.While Emerson was not a particularly outstanding student in college, he nonetheless developed ways of writing, thinking and speaking that made him a prominent intellectual figure in his own time, and a mystical/religious figure as well.

Holmes had the advantage of having known Emerson enough to be able to render some personal and candid observations.After giving a general historical narrative of his life, complete with extracts from writings and correpondence, Holmes reflects on various aspects of Emerson's life, including his general personality and habits.Emerson's voice had charm both in personal conversation as well as in lecture and pulpit settings.Emerson often spoke with hesitation, according to Holmes, prefering the momentary silence to find the right word over using the wrong or less-appropriate word.These kinds of observations make Holmes' volume one of real value.

In discussing Emerson's mystical side, Holmes rarely has sympathy, but does not denigrate Emerson's own belief system. 'The knowledge, if knowledge it be, of the mystic is not transmissible,' Holmes states.It cannot be compiled and built upon by others, but is created anew in each seeker.Emerson's view of science is probably similar to Holmes' view of mysticism.

Overall, this is an excellent biography of Emerson, great at giving insight into the author, Holmes, as well. ... Read more

Product Description
American essayist, philosopher and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson was a leading figure in the 19th century Transcendentalism movement. A champion of individualism and persistent critic of social pressures, Emerson was an influential American figure whose philosophy is embodied in the numerous essays he wrote and lectures he gave. This volume brings together an extensive selection of those essays and lectures. "Essays and Lectures" is a robust representation of Emerson's writings in which you will find the following individual works: "Nature: Addresses and Lectures"; "Essays: First and Second Series"; "Representative Men"; "English Traits"; and "The Conduct of Life". ... Read more

Customer Reviews (17)

Emerson Reviewed
When I was a freshman in my second semester in college, my English professor said to me, "Your writing is so very Emersonian. Do you mean to write like him?" I hadn't read a word of Emerson, but then again, I hadn't read anything. I later checked out Emerson's collected works from the library, began reading, and have loved him ever since. The more I read, the more I discovered that I was unworthy of the comparison my teacher had drawn. Emerson is nobody's peer.

"If God appeared in 19th Century America," said Harold Bloom, "It was as Ralph Waldo Emerson." My personal favorites: The American Scholar, Divinity School Address, Circles, Nature, Self Reliance, Friendship, Representative Men.

Emerson:
"Beware when the great God lets loose a thinker on this planet. Then all things are at risk. It is as when a conflagration has broken out in a great city, and no man knows what is safe, or where it will end. There is not a piece of science but its flank may be turned tomorrow; there is not any literary reputation, not the so-called eternal names of fame, that may not be revised and condemned. The very hopes of man, the thoughts of his heart, the religion of nations, the manners and morals of mankind are all at the mercy of a new generalization."

The following passage from Emerson's Essay Montaigne; or The Skeptic:
"Although knaves win in every political struggle, although society seems to be delivered over from the hands of one set of criminals into the hands of another set of criminals, as fast as the government changes--yet, general ends are somehow answered. We see now events which seem to retard or retrograde the civility of ages, but the world spirit is a good swimmer, and storms and waves cannot drown him. He snaps his finger at laws: and so through the years and the centuries, through evil agents, through toys and atoms, a great and beneficent tendency irresistibly streams."

Love Emerson - Do Not Like This Publication
This review has nothing to do with Emerson's writing. He was a rare genius.

I was exctied to get this book in the mail. Opened it, and was disappointed to find that the text runs all the way to the crease along the binding, making it awkward to read a line without tilting and bending the book. As a result I am sending it back. Just wanted to provide a warning to potential purchasers that the printing of this book is not reader-friendly.

I always enjoy reading Emerson
It came in perfect condition and on time.I am very satisfied with my purchase.

Wonderful
Like fine wine, these essays get better with time. Beware of trying to rush through these fine philosophical teachings. Like Maxwell house, it's good to the last drop!

A complete work of art
If you're considering more than one selection, stop. This is the only collection you need from Emerson. It's not only an exquisite read for the insights, prose, and poetry, but also for the overall experience of handling this volume--the lightness of the paper, the weight of the book. I am reading this on the heels of Walden, by Emerson's good friend, Henry David Thoreau, and I continue to be inspired and enthralled with every page. If you are an aspiring writer, you will find the finest of mentors, the most courageous of advocates. This is all the motivation you need to take your own chance in sharing your own deepest insights about the human experience. ... Read more

Product Description
Ralph Waldo Emerson: Selected Essays, Lectures and Poems, written by legendary author Ralph Waldo Emerson, is widely considered to be one of the greatest classic texts of all time. This great classic will surely attract a whole new generation of readers. For many, Ralph Waldo Emerson: Selected Essays, Lectures and Poems is required reading for various courses and curriculums. And for others who simply enjoy reading timeless pieces of classic literature, this gem by Ralph Waldo Emerson is highly recommended. Published by Classic Books International and beautifully produced, Ralph Waldo Emerson: Selected Essays, Lectures and Poems would make an ideal gift and it should be a part of everyone's personal library. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Ralph Waldo Emerson -
The book is a little small in size, but, it is enjoyable to read.
It takes sometimes reading the material twice to digest the information and taking it in, to process the writing.It is a classic book and feel it would benefit any and all that are interesting in nature and "god in nature."Better to be in the mood to read these writings rather than forcing one's self to read it when not in the right frame of mind to be receive the writing.

Be open to the the spiritual side of nature and beauty it beholds for our everyday healing of the rat race life we live.

Be of good cheer and kindness, and know we go back into the one mind of the universe of nature and we move to the next dimension.

God is within all of us. We are part of nature.

Too smart for me.
I bought this thinking it would be a good way to get to know the author through his short works but I guess I need to be an english major or in an English composition class 'cause I didn't get past a few pages. I'm still trying tho.

Ralph Waldo Emerson: Selected Essays, Lectures and Poems
Excellent writer, good ideas, but verbose to the extreme.I would enjoy Emerson if his flowery dialogues were to the point.Instead he endlessly adds so much snow to fill fill up a chapter that some of his brilliant thoughts are dulled.In my opinion most of the chapters could have been reduced to a page or two.If you like long conversations with people who endlessly drone on to make their point; if you enjoy long winded discussions,Emerson will entertain you.

Dr. Raymond DuRussel

At long last: someone worth reading....
I discovered Emerson at age 34, and it was like coming home.I have always been, I guess, a natural "transcendentalist".In other words, I instinctively and intuitively fell into a transcendentalist mindset and way of thinking without ever having read any.So I've read Thoreau and Annie Dillard and frankly can't stand either of them.I find them a little strained.Emerson, to me at least, is a different story.He writes like a god.He writes with authority, poetry and insight.He, to me, is worlds apart from someone likeDillard...hard to say exactly how.I just know that his writing is brilliant, brilliant...free, courageous, honest.A big part of it for me is his passionate and deep understanding of God coupled with his rejection of "corpse-cold" religion.If you are a seeker, if you have an open mind, you will find few better than this.

Selected Essays, Lectures and Poems by Emerson
Emerson affirms the individual and self-reliant aspects of life.
Early in life, Emerson lost his father and 3 year old sister Mary Caroline. The author demonstrated the power of expression in translating truth to both verse and music. Some famous quotes from the book are as follows:

- The perfect friendship requires a rare nature..
- The fountains of my hidden life are through thy friendship fair.
- Man (person ) is all symmetry.
- Great geniuses have the shortest biographies.
i.e.Plato had no biography per se.

A strength of this work is that the author presents classic
sayings/quotations of Emerson in the original literary mode.
It will be appreciated by literature enthusiasts everywhere. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

An Emerson Bible
There's no need to say much about this.It's Emerson.He is revered as our "First Man" in American--our truly Original Adam in the Morning.It has been said that all thinking in America since Emerson is either with him or against him.He inspires in both directions--Melville mocked him and Eliot scorned him while Dickinson learned from him and Whitman proclaimed that Emerson brought him to a boil.This divided reaction continues to this day (note the reverance of critic Harold Bloom and philosopher Stanley Cavell and at the same time the derision of John Updike and Robert Penn Warren) though he is certainly back in academic vogue.

This combination of two L of A editions (Essays and Poems are published separately) creates a book that can be your daily bread.This is essential Emerson at your fingertips.The actual book is voluminous yet not cumbersome--and though thick, it handles easily and wears well--perfect for compulsive thumbing through.

Here are some of my favorite books about Emerson, biographical and critical: "Emerson: The Mind on Fire" by Robert D. Richardson is by far my favorite biography (it is still said that the work by Ralph Rusk is the definitive "factual" bio); Bloom's work is peppered with essays on Emerson, "Agon" is a nice collection as is "Figures of Capable Imagination"; Richard Poirier writes with a constant eye toward Emerson ("The Renewal of Literature", "Poetry and Pragmatism") as does Stanley Cavel ("Conditions Handsome and Unhandsome", "This New Yet Unapproachable America"); and I really like a book by Mark Edmundson called "Towards Reading Freud : Self-Creation in Milton, Wordsworth, Emerson, and Sigmund Freud".And there are hundreds of critical studies (probably thousands) to consult--the classic being Stephen Whicher's "Freedom and Fate" (but I like Jonathan Bishop's "Emerson on the Soul" better).

Enough rambling.Emerson continues to be startling at every turn--you may think you know him ("Hitch your wagon to a star", "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds" etc.), but he will not be penned in. ... Read more

Product Description
I have had no word from you for a long space. You wrote me a letter from Scotland after the death of your wife's mother, and full of pity for me also; and since, I have heard nothing. I confide that all has gone well and prosperously with you; that the iron Puritan is emerging from the Past, in shape and stature as he lived; and you are recruited by sympathy and content with your picture; and that the sure repairs of time and love and active duty have brought peace to the orphan daughter's heart. ... Read more

Product Description
The World's Largest Collection the Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson.

This Volume has 199 Poems & 186 Essays, Lectures, Speeches & Prose - 385 Pieces in Total!

The Print Version of this book is 4,884 pages long; imagine having to lug that in your backpack or purse!!

The Digital Version is just a little over 3MB!!

All the works are presented in digital text, rather that pictures of the original print pages.

The table of contents is active. With links allowing you to jump to & from any work, you can enjoy his work quickly & without hassle.

The table of contents is set in chronological order; A date is provided for every single piece as well as a category (ie poetry, lecture, speech, prose, essay...)
Example: 1841 December 09 - The Conservative - (Essays)

At the end of each piece you will find a return link to the table of contents; this fords you the ability to read this as a linear book or in any order you choose.

Table of Contents:

Poems of Youth and Early Manhood (18 Pieces)

The Lord's Supper

The Naturalist

Historical Discourse at Concord

Nature (9 Pieces)

The American Scholar

War

Letter to President Van Buren

Divinity School Address

Literary Ethics

Early Poems of Ralph Waldo Emerson (66 Pieces)

The Dial (37 Pieces)

Essays, 1st Series (12 Pieces)

Man the Reformer

The Method of Nature

Introductory Lecture on the Times

The Conservative

The Transcendentalist

The Emerson-Thoreau correspondence: The Dial Period

Government of Children

The Young American

Emancipation in the British West Indies

Representative Men (7 Pieces)

Editors' Address

Nature

The Fugitive Slave Law

Address to Kossuth

Additional Poems & Fragments (26 Pieces)

Woman

Consecration of Sleepy Hollow Cemetery

English Traits (19 Pieces)

The Assault Upon Mr. Sumner

Speech on Affairs in Kansas

Robert Burns

John Brown - Speech at Boston

The Conduct of Life (9 Pieces)

Speech at Banquet in Honor of Chinese Embassy

John Brown - Speech at Salem

Theodore Parker

American Civilization

Thoreau

The Fortune of the Republic

Shakespeare

Abraham Lincoln

Harvard Commemoration Speech

May-Day and Other Pieces (93 Pieces)

Dedication of the Soldiers' Monument

Remarks at Organization of Free Religious Association

Speech at Second Annual Meeting of Free Religious Association

Humboldt

Society & Solitude (12 Pieces)

Walter Scott

Address at Opening of Concord Free Public Library

By Emerson's Grave - Walt Whitman

Historic Notes of Life and Letters in New England

Lectures & Biographical Sketches (19 Pieces)

Natural History of Intellect (7 Pieces)

Plus a lot more...

Please, Enjoy. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

I feel cheated

This was advertised as having an active table of contents. I purchased it and my iPod says "Table of contents not available for this item." On further investigation, however, there is an active table of contents of sorts, but you can't actually directly to it.You have to click on "Beginning," which will take you to the first page of the book and then hit the icon that takes you back until you get to the table of contents, which is of course before the "beginning" of the book or the first page of the first text.Very cumbersome.Please fix this. When you DO get to the table of contents, you can click on an item and it will take you there, but then to get back to the table of contents you have to do what I described above, go back to the "beginning" and then go back pages to get to the table of contents in reverse order.

One more thing.Not all of the table of contents work.I clicked on Shakespeare, one of my favorite Emerson essays, and it too me.....nowhere.Come on guys.

Everything and more
I bought this book and all I can say is WOW! Rarely do you ever find something that lives up to its and, and then delivers more. With the interactive table of contents, all my favorites are at my fingertips. No more looking through website after website to find the piece that I want, I have it all now. This book even has pieces that I have never read before and I am very impressed.
... Read more

Product Description
Ralph Waldo Emerson's NATURE is perhaps the greatest original work of philosophy written by an American. This edition of NATURE includes over 20 black and white photographs, a foreword on the origins and significance the book, and an afterword on NATURE and modern science. All these features, at a low price, make this the ideal version of Emerson's masterpiece for students. [Also available in a larger, full-color Deluxe Illustrated Edition, ISBN 1448696488. Published by American Renaissance Books.] ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

my favorite book
i have read this collection of emerson too many times to count.everytime i find something new, refreshing, delightful.highly recommended to one looking for a thought provoking journey through the world we live in.

Essential American Literature
Nature, Ralph Waldo Emerson's first book, is his manifesto and thus the birth of Transcendentalism and true American Romanticism. It got little initial attention but has come to be seen as one of his major works. Though not as famous or acclaimed as later Emerson, it is of great significance not only historically but in terms of his career and the many he influenced. It is remarkable just how much of his writing is here in embryo; in a large sense, he spent the rest of his career refining this. Many key concepts are here:nature's all-encompassing beauty and force, our place in regard to it, art's role, and of course deduction of God from nature. Some speculations are more philosophical, historical, or critical, but all lead to these basic points, which are Transcendentalism's cornerstones. Emerson's characteristically optimistic thought is here in full, as is his signature poetic prose. He now unfortunately has the reputation of being somewhat impenetrable or simply impractical, but it is important to realize that he wrote for the masses; unlike nearly all philosophers, he did not rely on jargon or polysyllables. Time has of course obscured him somewhat, but he is still notably accessible compared to others. Yet his writing has a rare beauty rarely approached in any prose, much less philosophy; it is often as close to poetry as prose can be. That Emerson enjoyed writing - perhaps not the drudgery but certainly the exploration - is clear; he often works himself up to such a pitch that he positively rhapsodizes, producing near-lyrical beauty even when writing about the most abstract metaphysics. Nature has a consummate example - the "transparent eyeball," perhaps his most famous passage. The book has much to tell us even after all these years, and it is indeed somewhat ironic that factors ostensibly making it archaic - greater industrialization, ever-expanding technology, deforestation, etc. - in many ways make it really more relevant than ever. It is quite simply essential for anyone even remotely interested in Emerson or Transcendentalism - nay, American literature or history themselves.

Nature is widely anthologized, meaning this standalone is perhaps not ideal. However, it has an Introduction and Afterword - and even color photos - to make it more attractive. All must decide if this makes it worthwhile, but the important thing is to read Nature in some form.

One of the great essayists -An American original and classic
Emerson is one of the greatest of essayists. His thoughts have a poetic power. But they are often complex and paradoxical and difficult to understand.
The title essay of this collection, 'Nature' is one of Emerson's most famous works. In it he in a sense talks about forgetting the fundamentalist reading of Scriptures and finding a true meeting with God through Nature.
For Emerson , Nature is the great harmonizer and harmony. He writes of our proper moral relation to it as a way of bringing the divinity into our lives.
Emerson makes an analogy between the moral and the spiritual which he claims we can only understand intellectually in proportion to our virtue or the goodness of our character.
In writing of Language and Nature he writes that true poetic speech has a command over, and can move and shape Nature.
Emerson is famous for his optimistic tone and message, but as Stephen Whicher long ago pointed out Emerson also has a darker side and knowsthe evils that can come in life.

Classic isn't a good enough description
This is a radiant essay on nature's greatness. It's beautifully written by Emerson. This book will stay with you even months after you've read it. ... Read more

Product Description
"Emerson's prose is his triumph, both as eloquence and as insight. After Shakespeare, it matches anything else in the language."
-Harold Bloom

Here are Ralph Waldo Emerson's classic essays, including the exhortation to "Self-Reliance," the embattled realizations of "Circles" and "Experience," and the groundbreaking achievement of "Nature." Our most eloquent champion of individualism, Emerson acknowledges at the same time the countervailing pressures of society in American life. Even as he extols what he calls "the great and crescive self," he dramatizes and records its vicissitudes. Also gathered here are his wide-ranging discourses on history, art, politics, friendship, love, and much more.
For almost thirty years, The Library of America has presented America's best and most significant writing in acclaimed hardcover editions. Now, a new series, Library of America Paperback Classics, offers attractive and affordable books that bring The Library of America's authoritative texts within easy reach of every reader. Each book features an introductory essay by one of a leading writer, as well as a detailed chronology of the author's life and career, an essay on the choice and history of the text, and notes.
The contents of this Paperback Classic are drawn from Ralph Waldo Emerson: Essays and Lectures, volume number 15 in the Library of America series. It is joined in the series by three companion volumes, gathering Emerson's poems, translations, and selections from his journals.
... Read more

Product Description
"There is a time in every man's education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better or worse as his portion."A beautiful classic that is just as relevant today as it was a century ago. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Essential in Some Form
"Self-Reliance" is Ralph Waldo Emerson's most famous essay and is rivaled only by "Concord Hymn" as his most famous work. It is also his masterpiece; one often hears - sometimes disparagingly - that Emerson tried to fit his whole philosophy into each essay, and this comes remarkably close. There is far more depth and subtlety here than the length suggests; one would be very hard-pressed to find another work so densely packed. The words are few, but the implications are enough for a lifetime. "Self" is a seminal masterwork; a founding Transcendentalist text and American Romantic cornerstone, it is central to American thought, culture, and literature. Anyone even remotely interested in any Americana aspect must be intimately familiar with it; aside from the Declaration of Independence and Constitution themselves, perhaps no other document is so vital to the American spirit.

Reading "Self" is perhaps more necessary than ever - not only because it is eternally relevant but also because it is often misrepresented. The term "self-reliance" is now almost entirely political, almost synonymous with libertarianism, and the essay is frequently touted along such lines. However, these things are hardly more than implied here, and though the definition of "liberal" has greatly changed, it is important to remember that Emerson was one of his era's leading liberals. His prime meaning in any case is self-reliance intellectually and in everyday life. He urges us to trust ourselves, to recognize human divinity and avoid imitation. It is a simple message but all-important - and far easier said than done. Emerson explores all its ramifications - philosophical, practical, social, political, economic, etc. - and outlines all its benefits. The case is beyond convincing, but he can do no more than show us; the rest is up to us.

This profoundly individualist message is another reason that reading "Self" is so necessary. Emerson now unfortunately has a reputation for being somewhat impenetrable and/or hopelessly impractical; this is a true shame, because he wrote for the masses. Unlike nearly all philosophers, he does not rely on jargon or polysyllables; he truly wanted to be understood, and all it takes is will. We must open our minds to him, and once we have, they will never be closed again.

Though greatly revered with many and diverse followers, Emerson's intention was not to be loved but to inspire; he wanted all to find individual genius. His work is thus the truest and best kind of self-help manual, and "Self" is its apotheosis. It has inspired millions in the more than century and a half of its existence, including me. I have read thousands and thousands of works, but this is one of the handful that truly changed my life. Emerson's greatness always shines through, but reading him at the right time can make an astonishing difference. He was more popular in life with the young than the old, and I can easily see why. I was lucky to read him at just the right time, and "Self" spoke to me more powerfully than almost anything else ever has. Without hyperbole, I can say that I would not be doing what I am today and would have abandoned my goals and visions without reading "Self" and Thoreau's "Life without Principle" - a somewhat similar essay highly influenced by Emerson - when I did. I was wracked with self-doubt and getting nothing but indifference, bafflement, or hostility from others; these works gave just the kick I needed, and I will never look back. "Self" has the potential to be life-changing as almost nothing else does, and I highly recommend it to all; you can hardly be unaffected and may never be the same. However, I especially recommend it to the young; its importance to them - and Emerson's generally - simply cannot be overemphasized.

Emerson is a signature American stylist, and "Self" is near his height. His writing is always memorable and often highly lyrical - about as close to poetry as prose can be. However, his essays were almost always painstakingly composed from lectures and journals, and the effect was sometimes choppy. An Emerson-loving professor of mine once joked that no one can find the topic sentence in an Emerson paragraph, and his transitions also frequently leave much to be desired. However, "Self" is near-seamless, a true masterpiece of style that flows smoothly and often waxes beautiful. This is all the more remarkable in that it was assembled even more than usual from disparate sources; entries that ended up here came as far as eight years apart, but the whole is admirably harmonious.

"Self" is a preeminent example of how Emerson delights in paradox. Anyone who reads him closely sees that he is as complex as he is simple. Thus, despite - or perhaps even because of - apparent straight-forwardness, few texts are more ripe for deconstruction. "Self" fans after all love a text that tells us not to love texts, are inspired by a man who tells us not to be inspired by men, and are convinced by a text and man both of which tell us not to be convinced by either. But this is only the beginning. "Self" works because it tells us exactly what we want to hear and, in striking contrast to innumerable self-help books, does so in an intellectually and even aesthetically respectable way. This is fine for me and (hopefully) you but could of course be taken to heart by Hitler as easily as Gandhi. The thoroughly optimistic, mild-mannered, and physically frail Emerson may not have foreseen his revolutionary text being put to nefarious use and probably would have been unable to believe in even the possibility. However, the danger, if we choose to call it so, is very real. "Self" could easily have had the same effect that Nietzsche had on Nazis, and that it has not been taken up by anarchists, radical terrorists, and the like is perhaps mere luck. One at least wonders how it avoided preceding The Catcher in the Rye as the work synonymous with unsavory people. That said, it is likely unfair to Emerson to say he did not anticipate this; he after all takes his views to the logical conclusion. He surely saw it, and it may have given pause, but he persevered because he was faithful to his intuition just as he urges us to be to ours. He truly believed in self-reliance and was ready to stand by it no matter what befell - nay, thought it his only choice. His optimism must have told him that the doctrine would not be abused, and he has been right - so far. Only time will tell if this continues to hold, but "Self" remains essential for all.

The work is well worth buying alone, but virtually every Emerson anthology includes it. This is his best work, but he has many great ones, including several nearly as good, and a standalone is hard to justify. All must decide how to get it, but the important - nay, essential - thing is to have it in some form.

Good book!
I bought this as a gift for my older brother. He's 26 and he liked it very much. The book was in very good condition.

Bought as a gift
Bought as a gift for someone.Product was just as described and arrived quickly. ... Read more

Product Description
C and C Web Press brings you: The Complete Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson & Henry David Thoreau. Selection includes the following:RALPH WALDO EMERSON:Art,Character,Circles,Compensation,Divinity School Address,Experience,Friendship,Gifts,Heroism,History,Intellect,Literary Ethics,Love,Man the Reformer,Nature,New England Reformers,Nominalist and Realist,Politics,Prudence,Representative Men,Self-Reliance,The American Scholar,The Conservative,The Method of Nature,The Over-Soul,The Poet,The Transcendentalist,The Young American,HENRY DAVID THOREAU:An Excursion to Canada,A Plea for Captain John Brown,A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers,Autumnal Tints,Civil Disobedience,Life Without Principle,Night and Moonlight,Slavery in Massachusetts,The Landlord,Walden,Walking ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

Good Collection
Don't know what all the hubbub is about regarding the title. The selections are in the description, so read before you buy. That said, the ones in this collection are wonderful. I remember reading both Self-Reliance and Waldo in my American Lit. class in college, both selections turned me on to Thoreau and Emerson. The table of contents works great and, I am a believer in this edition. Order with confidence. Happy reading.

Not complete!
This is absolutely NOT the complete works of Emerson.Amazon should disclose that the title is a cheap marketing ploy.

Fantastic Anthology
Two of the most formidable American writers, all-in-one. You couldn't ask for more. From Self-Reliance to Walden, this collection gives you the best of, in my opinion, the two most important writers of the Reform Era. "Be yourself; no base imitator of another, but your best self. There is something which you can do better than another. Listen to the inward voice and bravely obey that. Do the things at which you are great, not what you were never made for" (Emerson, Self-Reliance). Love it and recommend it.

NOT COMPLETE
As other people have said, this is definitely nowhere near a complete set of works.I bought the kindle edition without seeing the table of contents, and was rather disappointed.I think the title is false advertising.

Emerson Reviewed
When I was a freshman in my second semester in college, my English professor said to me, "Your writing is so very Emersonian. Do you mean to write like him?" I hadn't read a word of Emerson, but then again, I hadn't read anything. I later checked out Emerson's collected works from the library, began reading, and have loved him ever since. The more I read, the more I discovered that I was unworthy of the comparison my teacher had drawn. Emerson is nobody's peer.

"If God appeared in 19th Century America," said Harold Bloom, "It was as Ralph Waldo Emerson." My personal favorites: The American Scholar, Divinity School Address, Circles, Nature, Self Reliance, Friendship, Representative Men.

Emerson:
"Beware when the great God lets loose a thinker on this planet. Then all things are at risk. It is as when a conflagration has broken out in a great city, and no man knows what is safe, or where it will end. There is not a piece of science but its flank may be turned tomorrow; there is not any literary reputation, not the so-called eternal names of fame, that may not be revised and condemned. The very hopes of man, the thoughts of his heart, the religion of nations, the manners and morals of mankind are all at the mercy of a new generalization."

The following passage from Emerson's Essay Montaigne; or The Skeptic:
"Although knaves win in every political struggle, although society seems to be delivered over from the hands of one set of criminals into the hands of another set of criminals, as fast as the government changes--yet, general ends are somehow answered. We see now events which seem to retard or retrograde the civility of ages, but the world spirit is a good swimmer, and storms and waves cannot drown him. He snaps his finger at laws: and so through the years and the centuries, through evil agents, through toys and atoms, a great and beneficent tendency irresistibly streams."
... Read more

Product Description
When Emerson died in 1882 he was the most famous public intellectual in America. Yet his most remarkable literary creation-his journals- remained unpublished. Begun when he was a precocious Harvard junior of 16 and continued without significant lapse for almost 60 years, Emerson's journals were his life's work. They were the starting point for virtually everything in his celebrated essays, lectures, and poems; a "Savings Bank," in which his occasional insights began to cohere and yield interest; a commonplace book, in which he gathered the choicest anecdotes, ideas, and phrases from his voracious and wide-ranging reading; and a fascinating diary in the ordinary sense of the term. It would be a hundred years after his death before these intimate records would appear in print in their entirety, and they are still, at over three million words, among the least known and least available of Emerson's writings. The journals reveal what Emerson called "the infinitude of the private man"-by turns whimsical, incisive, passionate, curious, and candid-in astonishing new ways.

With Selected Journals 1820-1842 and its companion volume Selected Journals 1841-1877, The Library of America presents the most ample and comprehensive nonspecialist edition of Emerson's great work ever published-one that retains the original order in which he composed his thoughts and preserves the dramatic range of his unique style in long, uninterrupted passages, but without the daunting critical apparatus of the 16-volume scholarly edition.

This volume begins with Emerson's first journal entry, on January 25, 1820, in a homemade booklet he titled The Wide World, and follows him through his early years at Harvard College and the Divinity School, his ordination as a Unitarian minister, his marriage to Ellen Tucker and her untimely death, his fateful decision to leave the ministry, and his travels in England and on the Continent. It offers an irreplaceable perspective on the intellectual currents of the day-the emergence of Transcendentalism; the furor over Emerson's "Divinity School Address"; the founding of The Dial; experiments in communal living at Fruitlands and Brook Farm-and intimate sketches of Emerson's friends and contemporaries, including Henry David Thoreau, Margaret Fuller, Thomas Carlyle, William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and others.

Edited by Lawrence Rosenwald-Anne Pierce Rogers Professor of American Literature at Wellesley College and author of Emerson and the Art of the Diary-each volume includes a 16-page portfolio of images of Emerson and his contemporaries, a note on the selections, extensive notes, biographical sketches, a chronology, and an index. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Very nicely done
This whole series is very nicely done! I purchased the 3 Steinbeck books for myself and the 4 Emerson books for my girlfriend.

The presentation is very nice, the binding, the bookkmark ribbon, the print and paper quality. I'm an iPad/Kindle guy but it's nice to hold a real book of quality once in a while.

A peek into Emerson's trove of journals
Ralph Waldo Emerson was a prolific eloquent essayist, philosopher, and poet. Readers well familiar with his works remember him for leading the transcendentalist movement in the 19th century, influencing society with the "less is more" way of thinking. Emerson began writing a journal in his late teens. By the time he reached his 30s, he'd made his writings an art form of literary significance and interest.

This collection of some of Emerson's best and vital writings from his never-before-published //Selected Journals 1820-1842// takes the reader through passages on religion, travels abroad to Italy, France, Scotland and England, travels on the sea, and other varied topics. This particular collection of writings, paired with a companion volume //Selected Journals 1841-1877// contain what many believe to be Emerson's most significant biographical and historical works. Emerson often used passages from his journals in lectures and essays, making these works the incubator that led to much of Emerson's most renowned work.

This is deep reading, and due in part to the sheer size of this book, it's not to be tackled quickly. Emerson's words are meant to be savored and pondered, and this collection will provide endless hours of reading and delving into what made Emerson such a beloved writer for all times.

Reviewed by Laura Friedkin ... Read more

Product Description
May-Day - and Other Pieces is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Ralph Waldo Emerson is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of Ralph Waldo Emerson then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

not complete
IF you're buying this to get a smattering of Emerson, fine; you'll get an introduction. The problem is that the kindle book doesn't contain the complete works of Emerson, as the title might suggest. You get an extremely abridged version ofof the essay "Nature", for example.

Pre-Inflation
These days, celebrity authors earn thousands of dollars for a speech, but back in the 1880s, Ralph Waldo Emerson, the first American author known to receive payment for delivering a talk, was paid $5 and oats for his horse. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

not complete
IF you're buying this to get a smattering of Emerson, fine; you'll get an introduction. The problem is that the kindle book doesn't contain the complete works of Emerson, as the title might suggest. You get an extremely abridged version ofof the essay "Nature", for example.

Pre-Inflation
These days, celebrity authors earn thousands of dollars for a speech, but back in the 1880s, Ralph Waldo Emerson, the first American author known to receive payment for delivering a talk, was paid $5 and oats for his horse. ... Read more