Ralph Waldo Emerson; a profile

"Ralph Waldo Emerson became an institution in his own lifetime. He was the "sage of Concord," the most sought after and respected public speaker of the mid-nineteenth century. His pronouncements were the sounding board of an intellectual renaissance in America. His celebrated address "The American Scholar" was hailed by Oliver Wendell Holmes as "our intellectual Declaration of Independence." From his copious "Journals," which recorded the experiences, thoughts, and feelings of a lifetime, Emerson drew the material for his lectures and writings. His works rank among the most eloquent examples of New England transcendentalist thought. He is a giant among giants- his friends and acquaintances included Thoreau, Hawthorne, Longfellow, Bronson Alcott, Margaret Fuller, and Oliver Wendell Holmes. By his own example and by his influence on his talented contemporaries, he advanced American literature and thought as perhaps no other man has. Carl Bode has brought together a selection of biographical and interpretive essays that show Emerson the man, as he was viewed by his contemporaries and as he looks today. The result is a composite, revealing picture of one of the most illustrious characters in nineteenth-century America"--Jacket."
"Essays to help you understand and appreciate the works of Ralph Waldo Emerson."