The Ridpath Library of Universal Literature (Volume 9); A Biographical and Bibliographical Summary of the World's Most Eminent Authors, Including the Choicest Extracts and Masterpieces from Their Writings, Comprising the Best Features of Many Celebrated C

by John Clark Ridpath

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1898. Excerpt: ... mainder of his life. From this time his profession was that of delivering lectures in all parts of the United States. For forty successive years he lectured before the Lyceum of Salem, Mass. His principal " courses" were ten upon "English History;" twelve upon "The Philosophy of History;" ten upon "Human Culture;" ten upon "Human Life;" ten upon " The Present Age;" and seven upon " The Times." These lectures, as such, have never been printed; but much of the substance of them is reproduced in his Essays and subsequent works. Emerson's first book, entitled Nature, was published in 1836. It is a little book containing matter equal to about fifty pages of this Cyclopaedia. It found very few readers at first. It was some twelve years before the first edition of five hundred copies was disposed of. Considering that there were forty years between the date of Natnrc, his first book, and Letters and Social Aims, his last, Emerson was by no means a voluminous writer. All his books would be comprised in half a dozen volumes of this Cyclopaedia. The following is a list of them, arranged in the order of their dates of publication; but this is no certain indication of the time of their actual composition. Internal evidence indicates that some of the later ones were substantially composed long before the issue of some of those earlier published: Nature (1836); Essays (first series, 1841; second series, 1847); Poems (1846); Miscellanies, consisting mainly of collegiate and other addresses, most of which had already been printed in The Dial (1849); Representative Men (1850); several chapters in James Freeman Clarke's Memoirs of Margaret Fuller Ossoli, not included in Emerson's collected works (1852); English Traits (1856); Conduct of Life (1860); May-day and Other Poems ...

262 pages, Paperback

First published August 5, 2009

About the author

John Clark Ridpath (April 26, 1840 – July 31, 1900) was an American educator, historian, and editor. His mother was a descendant of Samuel Matthews, a colonial governor of Virginia.