The Portable Emerson

Ralph Emerson, Mr Jeffrey S Cramer

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English

Penguin
25 February 2015

Literature, Poetry & Criticism; Prose: non-fiction; Western philosophy: c 1600 to c 1900

"""I have taught one doctrine, namely, the infinitude of the private man.""

Philosopher John Dewey called Ralph Waldo Emerson ""the one citizen of the New World fit to have his name uttered in the same breath with that of Plato."" Critic Harold Bloom called him ""the most influential writer of the 19th century"" and deemed him ""The Prophet of the American Religion."" Walt Whitman, Henry David Thoreau, and Nathaniel Hawthorne numbered themselves among his friends and proteges, while his central text, Nature, singlehandedly engendered an entire spiritual and intellectual movement in Transcendentalism. On a quotidian level, Emerson's quotations appear today as inspiration and commentary within discussions on virtually every subject, yet that visibility hardly plumbs the profundity of his influence. In short, Emerson's diverse body of work has done more than perhaps any other thinker to shape and define the American mind, divorcing it from the yoke of Continental philosophy by elevating nature and the individual over history and materialism.

With such a towering icon, the weight of Emerson's reputation and the cosmic optimism of his vision risk overrunning a presentation of that central Emersonian tenet- an individual in all his infinitude. In this update to Malcolm Cowley and Carl Bode's classic The Portable Emerson, editor Jeffrey S. Cramer takes a wider view of both the work and the man, offering key texts like Nature and The American Scholar, along with revelatory journal entries, letters, poetry, and a sermon, revealing a stirringly human Emerson that, like Whitman, contains multitudes.

A comprehensive collection of writings by ""the most influential writer of the nineteenth century"" (Harold Bloom)

Ralph Waldo Emerson's diverse body of work has done more than perhaps any other thinker to shape and define the American mind. Literary giants including Henry David Thoreau, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Walt Whitman were among Emerson's admirers and proteges, while his central text,Nature, singlehandedly engendered an entire spiritual and intellectual movement in transcendentalism. This long-awaited update-the first in more than thirty years-presents the core of Emerson's writings, includingNatureand The American Scholar, along with revelatory journal entries, letters, poetry, and a sermon.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust theseries to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-datetranslations by award-winning translators."

By: Ralph Emerson
Edited by: Mr Jeffrey S Cramer
Imprint: Penguin
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Edition: annotated edition
Dimensions: Height: 198mm, Width: 129mm, Spine: 42mm
Weight: 595g
ISBN: 9780143107460
ISBN 10: 0143107461
Pages: 768
Publication Date: 25 February 2015
Audience: General/trade , Professional and scholarly , College/higher education , ELT Advanced , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) began his career as a teacher and became an essayist, poet, philosopher and leader of the Transcendentalist movement. He urged his readers to accept fully the truths and beauty emanating from nature, to break from the staid ideas of Continental philosophy and to see the world with fresh eyes. Jeffrey S. Cramer is Curator of Collections at the Thoreau Institute at Walden Woods.