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Ralph Waldo Emerson: Essays and Journals
Hardcover. Garden City NY; International Collectors; 1968 First Edition. 671 pages. Very good! Condition. Clean, ( No names or notes inside) tight, straight, very good shape. (please see the pictures. Quick and safe shipping. M-13.
671 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1968
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About the author
Ralph Waldo Emerson
3,471 books5,337 followersRalph Waldo Emerson was born in Boston in 1803. Educated at Harvard and the Cambridge Divinity School, he became a Unitarian minister in 1826 at the Second Church Unitarian. The congregation, with Christian overtones, issued communion, something Emerson refused to do. "Really, it is beyond my comprehension," Emerson once said, when asked by a seminary professor whether he believed in God. (Quoted in 2,000 Years of Freethought edited by Jim Haught.) By 1832, after the untimely death of his first wife, Emerson cut loose from Unitarianism. During a year-long trip to Europe, Emerson became acquainted with such intelligentsia as British writer Thomas Carlyle, and poets Wordsworth and Coleridge. He returned to the United States in 1833, to a life as poet, writer and lecturer. Emerson inspired Transcendentalism, although never adopting the label himself. He rejected traditional ideas of deity in favor of an "Over-Soul" or "Form of Good," ideas which were considered highly heretical. His books include Nature (1836), The American Scholar (1837), Divinity School Address (1838), Essays, 2 vol. (1841, 1844), Nature, Addresses and Lectures (1849), and three volumes of poetry. Margaret Fuller became one of his "disciples," as did Henry David Thoreau.
The best of Emerson's rather wordy writing survives as epigrams, such as the famous: "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines." Other one- (and two-) liners include: "As men's prayers are a disease of the will, so are their creeds a disease of the intellect" (Self-Reliance, 1841). "The most tedious of all discourses are on the subject of the Supreme Being" (Journal, 1836). "The word miracle, as pronounced by Christian churches, gives a false impression; it is a monster. It is not one with the blowing clover and the falling rain" (Address to Harvard Divinity College, July 15, 1838). He demolished the right wing hypocrites of his era in his essay "Worship": ". . . the louder he talked of his honor, the faster we counted our spoons" (Conduct of Life, 1860). "I hate this shallow Americanism which hopes to get rich by credit, to get knowledge by raps on midnight tables, to learn the economy of the mind by phrenology, or skill without study, or mastery without apprenticeship" (Self-Reliance). "The first and last lesson of religion is, 'The things that are seen are temporal; the things that are not seen are eternal.' It puts an affront upon nature" (English Traits , 1856). "The god of the cannibals will be a cannibal, of the crusaders a crusader, and of the merchants a merchant." (Civilization, 1862). He influenced generations of Americans, from his friend Henry David Thoreau to John Dewey, and in Europe, Friedrich Nietzsche, who takes up such Emersonian themes as power, fate, the uses of poetry and history, and the critique of Christianity. D. 1882.
Ralph Waldo Emerson was his son and Waldo Emerson Forbes, his grandson.
The best of Emerson's rather wordy writing survives as epigrams, such as the famous: "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines." Other one- (and two-) liners include: "As men's prayers are a disease of the will, so are their creeds a disease of the intellect" (Self-Reliance, 1841). "The most tedious of all discourses are on the subject of the Supreme Being" (Journal, 1836). "The word miracle, as pronounced by Christian churches, gives a false impression; it is a monster. It is not one with the blowing clover and the falling rain" (Address to Harvard Divinity College, July 15, 1838). He demolished the right wing hypocrites of his era in his essay "Worship": ". . . the louder he talked of his honor, the faster we counted our spoons" (Conduct of Life, 1860). "I hate this shallow Americanism which hopes to get rich by credit, to get knowledge by raps on midnight tables, to learn the economy of the mind by phrenology, or skill without study, or mastery without apprenticeship" (Self-Reliance). "The first and last lesson of religion is, 'The things that are seen are temporal; the things that are not seen are eternal.' It puts an affront upon nature" (English Traits , 1856). "The god of the cannibals will be a cannibal, of the crusaders a crusader, and of the merchants a merchant." (Civilization, 1862). He influenced generations of Americans, from his friend Henry David Thoreau to John Dewey, and in Europe, Friedrich Nietzsche, who takes up such Emersonian themes as power, fate, the uses of poetry and history, and the critique of Christianity. D. 1882.
Ralph Waldo Emerson was his son and Waldo Emerson Forbes, his grandson.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
November 6, 2023
Review title: ISO a creative reader
Selected and with an introduction by Lewis Mumford
it has been just over two weeks, but it sure felt like a long slog through these Essays and Journals of Emerson. Mumford in his introduction suggested that reading straight through these in one go is probably not the best approach, but that's how I read books so I did it anyway and proved him right. Emerson of course was one of the great American thinkers and writers if the 19th century so his reputation will easily survive my criticism. "He transcended Transcendentalism as decisively as he protested against Protestantism and dematerialized Materialism." (p. 28)
What was Emerson: A theologian, a philosopher, a professor, a poet, a naturalist, a linguist? Yes--"Language is fossil poetry." (p. 257),
So yes, as these quotes show, Emerson understood himself to be speaking with all these voices in all these disciplines.
He also stood firmly on American soil, praising and defining an American way of living, language, and culture. "Let us learn to live coarsely, dress plainly, and lie hard." (p. 433). Yet while contrasting these American traits with the British in a series of essays on "English Traits", he recognized the value of the British: "it has yielded more able men in five hundred years than any other nation. . . . Retrospectively, we may strike the balance and prefer one Alfred, one Shakespeare, one Milton, one Sidney, one Raleigh, one Wellington, to a million foolishly democrats." (p. 534)
The essays are concluded with an 18-page eulogy of Thoreau and a shorter one of Lincoln, both men honored with high and undiluted praise by Emerson. Then, despite the title, this edition includes very little from his journals, a mere 50 of over 650 pages providing most years only one small paragraph to represent the whole and many years none at all. One notable line from 1834: "Do not trust man, great God! with more power until he has learned to use his little power better." (p. 634). And therein lies my problem with this collection: such precise, memorable, and repeatable thoughts are surrounded by too many long pages of less valuable prose.
The essay" Experience" contain some of the best and most memorable thoughts about life:
In one of the earliest essays, "The American Scholar", an 1837 address to the Phi Beta Kappa club at Harvard, Emerson explains that the value of "creative writing"--certainly his writing is that--depends on "creative reading": "When the [reader's] mind is braced by labor and invention, the page of whatever book we read becomes luminous with manifold allusion. Every sentence is doubly significant, and the sense of our author is as broad as the world." (p. 37). So my rating of this collection as three stars because of the long spaces between luminous thoughts represents not Emerson's deficiency in the writing but my two stars short of understanding in the reading.
Selected and with an introduction by Lewis Mumford
it has been just over two weeks, but it sure felt like a long slog through these Essays and Journals of Emerson. Mumford in his introduction suggested that reading straight through these in one go is probably not the best approach, but that's how I read books so I did it anyway and proved him right. Emerson of course was one of the great American thinkers and writers if the 19th century so his reputation will easily survive my criticism. "He transcended Transcendentalism as decisively as he protested against Protestantism and dematerialized Materialism." (p. 28)
What was Emerson: A theologian, a philosopher, a professor, a poet, a naturalist, a linguist? Yes--"Language is fossil poetry." (p. 257),
For the Universe has three children, born at one time, which reappear under different names in every system of thought, whether they be called cause, operation and effect; or, more poetically, Jove, Pluto, Neptune; or, theologically, the Father, the Spirit and the Son but which we will call here the Knower, the Doer and the Sayer. These stand respectively for the love of truth, for the love of god, and for the love of beauty. ‘These three are equal. Each is that which he is, essentially, so that he cannot be surmounted or analyzed, and each of these three has the power of the others latent in him and his own, patent, (p. 249)
So yes, as these quotes show, Emerson understood himself to be speaking with all these voices in all these disciplines.
He also stood firmly on American soil, praising and defining an American way of living, language, and culture. "Let us learn to live coarsely, dress plainly, and lie hard." (p. 433). Yet while contrasting these American traits with the British in a series of essays on "English Traits", he recognized the value of the British: "it has yielded more able men in five hundred years than any other nation. . . . Retrospectively, we may strike the balance and prefer one Alfred, one Shakespeare, one Milton, one Sidney, one Raleigh, one Wellington, to a million foolishly democrats." (p. 534)
The essays are concluded with an 18-page eulogy of Thoreau and a shorter one of Lincoln, both men honored with high and undiluted praise by Emerson. Then, despite the title, this edition includes very little from his journals, a mere 50 of over 650 pages providing most years only one small paragraph to represent the whole and many years none at all. One notable line from 1834: "Do not trust man, great God! with more power until he has learned to use his little power better." (p. 634). And therein lies my problem with this collection: such precise, memorable, and repeatable thoughts are surrounded by too many long pages of less valuable prose.
The essay" Experience" contain some of the best and most memorable thoughts about life:
To finish the moment, to find the journey's end in every step of the road, to live the greatest number of good hours, is wisdom. (p. 275)
God delights to isolate us every day, and hide from us the past and the future. We would look about us, but with grand politeness he draws down before us an impenetrable screen of purest sky, and another behind us of purest sky. 'You will not remember,' he seems to say, 'and you will not expect.' (p. 279)
The years teach much which the days never know. (p. 280)
In one of the earliest essays, "The American Scholar", an 1837 address to the Phi Beta Kappa club at Harvard, Emerson explains that the value of "creative writing"--certainly his writing is that--depends on "creative reading": "When the [reader's] mind is braced by labor and invention, the page of whatever book we read becomes luminous with manifold allusion. Every sentence is doubly significant, and the sense of our author is as broad as the world." (p. 37). So my rating of this collection as three stars because of the long spaces between luminous thoughts represents not Emerson's deficiency in the writing but my two stars short of understanding in the reading.
March 17, 2021
I've had some of these Emerson essays on my list for a very long time. And I was disappointed. I think I didn't realize how heavily influenced by Eastern philosophy Emerson was, and his essays are shot through with this influence. Everything is one, the one is everything... a whole lotta that kind of stuff. Eastern philosophy is not my bag so neither were these essays. Notable exceptions were the last two I read: Lincoln and especially Thoreau which is a touching and poetic tribute to his great friend. And which inspires me to now turn to some Thoreau essays and hope I there find a whole lot less Eastern philosophy.
August 20, 2017
It was fun to mine this book for tidbits of wisdom, but it was difficult to read for long spans of time. Not that it was boring. More that it was hard to follow. If you think of an outline, where you make a point and follow it up with supporting arguments and then make sure those points follow a progression to make a point - yeah, that's not Ralph Waldo Emerson's style.
May 21, 2020
Uplifting and insightful. I was surprised to see some issues I'd thought modern discussed over a century prior, which really connected me to the contents. Occasionally obscure, but he writes to such length that plowing through will get the idea across. Recommended to anyone searching for thoughtful consideration of life's challenges and opportunities, with a fascinating historical touch.
February 26, 2018
A must-read for seekers of truth and true religion. The essays in particular are strings of truth laid out with such plainness that the reader feels their soul stretching. Emerson belongs among that class of men that eschews public esteem and has thereby gained heaven in themselves.
April 15, 2018
These essays were the perfect balance of practical and philosophical. I especially enjoy listening to the audiobook version on long drives. For me, Emerson does the best job of balancing the ordinary and the universal, which is very satisfying both intellectually and spiritually.
December 13, 2021
Technically only read 4 of his essays but, aside from the waffle, some bits were actually gorgeous. I loved 'Friendship' and 'Love', they were well cute. Wrote my essay partly on 'The American Scholar' and it was quite interesting, and there most of the waffle was on my part tbf.
August 28, 2024
Anti-christian.
December 21, 2008
Don't let the lack of perfect raiting fool you - Emerson is a god. A god, not the God. But of course he'd tell you that we are all gods. Emerson has influenced my life possibly more than any "modern" writer - except Jung. The reason This has 4 stars instead of five is becaue alot of material here is not entirely relevant - to Emerson as a writier, or to Transcendentalism as a whole. But the stuff that IS Relevant is BEAUTIFUL - absolutely - I particularly reccomend "Nature" "Transcendentalist" "The Over-Soul" "Circles" and "Gifts" - just some favorites. Good Stuff.
August 28, 2008
Just read "Nature." Very Good.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews