Essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson

by Ralph Waldo Emerson

Overview

The Complete Ralph Waldo Emerson by Ralph Waldo Emerson. 23 Classic Essays. Ralph Waldo Emerson was an American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, and poet who led the transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. He was seen as a champion of individualism and a prescient critic of the countervailing pressures of society, and he disseminated his thoughts through dozens of published essays and more than 1,500 public lectures across the United States. Emerson gradually moved away from the religious and social beliefs of his contemporaries, formulating and expressing the philosophy of transcendentalism in his 1836 essay "Nature". Following this work, he gave a speech entitled "The American Scholar" in 1837, which Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. considered to be America's "intellectual Declaration of Independence."

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781117890753
Publisher:	BCR (Bibliographical Center for Research)
Publication date:	03/11/2010
Pages:	274
Product dimensions:	7.44(w) x 9.69(h) x 0.58(d)

About the Author

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) was an American essayist, lecturer, and poet who led the transcendentalist movement of the mid-nineteenth century. Although he began his career as a Unitarian minister, he gradually moved away from the religious and social beliefs of his contemporaries, formulating and expressing the philosophy of transcendentalism instead. Seen as a champion of individualism and a prescient critic of the countervailing pressures of society, he disseminated his thoughts through published essays and public lectures across the United States.

Phil Paonessa is a U.S. Army Veteran of the Vietnam era who works as an automotive industry project engineer, a public speaker, an actor, a voice actor, and, formerly, a local newspaper feature writer. The father of three adult children, he is a lifelong resident of Michigan, where he currently resides with his wife.

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION LIFE OF EMERSON CRITICAL OPINIONS CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF PRINCIPAL WORKS

THE AMERICAN SCHOLAR

COMPENSATION

SELF RELIANCE

FRIENDSHIP

HEROISM

MANNERS

GIFTS

NATURE

SHAKESPEARE; OR, THE POET

PRUDENCE

CIRCLES

NOTES

Editorial Reviews

Emerson’s Essays proclaim the self-reliance of a man who believed himself representative of all men since he felt himself intuitively aware of God’s universal truths. He spoke to a nineteenth century that was ready for an emphasis on individualism and responsive to a new optimism that linked God, nature, and man into a magnificent cosmos…Scholars have written innumerable articles and books attempting to account for Emerson’s influence—which continues to be profound—on American thought. If agreement is ever reached, it seems likely that it will involve acceptance of the claim that Emerson, whatever his value as a philosopher, gave stirring expression to the American faith in the creative capacity of the individual soul.”

Masterpieces of World Literature

Presenting all but one essay from Emerson's two volumes (ESSAYS: FIRST SERIES and ESSAYS: SECOND SERIES), this production is the most complete collection of Emerson's works. It contains some of his most famous essays, such as “Self-Reliance,” “The Over-Soul,” and “The Poet and Experience.” Narrator Jeff Riggenbach delivers the works authoritatively yet a bit rigidly. His inflections are relatively unvaried, and his baritone voice is comfortable and easy to follow. But he reads a bit quickly for texts this dense, not providing time for the ideas to sink in. This is still a valuable recording, well narrated and providing many great works not otherwise available on audio. But it's odd that the final essay of the SECOND SERIES is not included. K.M. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine

MARCH 2012 - AudioFile