Accessibility of Universal Understanding Nature expresses Emerson’s belief that each individual must develop a personal understanding of the universe. Emerson makes clear in the Introduction that men should break away from reliance on secondhand information, upon the wisdom of the past, upon inherited and institutionalized knowledge: Our age is retrospective. […]
Read more Emerson’s “Nature” Major ThemesEmerson’s “Nature” Summary and Analysis
As he returned from Europe in 1833, Emerson had already begun to think about the book that would eventually be published under the title Nature. In writing Nature, Emerson drew upon material from his journals, sermons, and lectures. The lengthy essay was first published in Boston by James Munroe and […]
Read more Emerson’s “Nature” Summary and AnalysisRalph Waldo Emerson Emerson’s Reputation and Influence
Both during his lifetime and since his death, Emerson’s reputation and influence have been enormous. Unlike his contemporary and friend Thoreau, Emerson was acknowledged during his own time as a major thinker and author and as the central proponent of Transcendental philosophy. Because Emerson’s efforts straddled a number of disciplines […]
Read more Ralph Waldo Emerson Emerson’s Reputation and InfluenceRalph Waldo Emerson Selective Chronology of Emerson’s Writings
1820 Emerson began to keep regular journals 1822 “Thoughts on the Religion of the Middle Ages” published in The Christian Disciple and Theological Review 1835 A Historical Discourse, Delivered Before the Citizens of Concord, 12th September, 1835. On the Second Centennial Anniversary of the Incorporation of the Town published (Concord: […]
Read more Ralph Waldo Emerson Selective Chronology of Emerson’s WritingsRalph Waldo Emerson Introduction to Emerson’s Writing
Nearly a century and a quarter after his death, Emerson remains one of the most widely read and frequently quoted of American authors. The newness of his ideas and the vigor of his style captured the attention of his lecture audiences and contemporary readers, and continue to move readers today. […]
Read more Ralph Waldo Emerson Introduction to Emerson’s WritingRalph Waldo Emerson Life and Background of Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson — essayist, poet, lecturer, philosopher, Unitarian minister, and central figure among the American Transcendentalists — was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on May 25, 1803. He was the fourth of eight children born to the Reverend William Emerson (1769–1811), pastor of the First Church in Boston, and Ruth […]
Read more Ralph Waldo Emerson Life and Background of EmersonIntroduction to the Times
New England Transcendentalism flowered during a period in American history marked by expansion, change, a growing national self-awareness, and increasing political, social, and regional polarization. The 1830 United States Census recorded a population of 12,866,020. By the 1860 Census, the population had more than doubled, to 31,443,321. The years from […]
Read more Introduction to the TimesWhat Is Transcendentalism? Lasting Impact of the Movement
New England Transcendentalism as a movement really thrived only for about twenty-five years. The world was not completely reformed by the words and efforts of its proponents. But people today still read Emerson’s Nature and Thoreau’s Walden. The importance of these thinkers lies in the endurance of their major writings […]
Read more What Is Transcendentalism? Lasting Impact of the MovementWhat Is Transcendentalism? Forms of Expressing Transcendental Philosophy
The Transcendentalists expressed their idealistic philosophy in a variety of ways. They delivered lectures and sermons, and wrote essays, articles, and books. Emerson, Alcott, Ripley, Parker, Brownson, Fuller, Peabody, Channing, Thoreau, Clarke, and others participated in meetings of the Transcendental Club (formed in 1836), which served as a discussion group […]
Read more What Is Transcendentalism? Forms of Expressing Transcendental PhilosophyWhat Is Transcendentalism? Reasons for the Rise of the Movement
Transcendentalism flourished at the height of literary and aesthetic Romanticism in Europe and America. Romanticism was marked by a reaction against classical formalism and convention and by an emphasis on emotion, spirituality, subjectivity, and inspiration. Transcendentalism, inspired by English and European Romantic authors, was a form of American Romanticism. Transcendentalism […]
Read more What Is Transcendentalism? Reasons for the Rise of the Movement