In 1849 Ralph Waldo Emerson collected in one volume all of his published work he thought worthy of preservation that had not been contained in the two series of Essays (1841, 1844) and the Poems (1847). Included were the essay Nature (1836); four orations, “The American Scholar,” “The Divinity School Address,” and two others; and five lectures which had appeared in The Dial.As the first volume of a projected new Collected Works, this edition of Nature, Addresses, and Lectures now provides for the first time a definitive text based on collation of all editions in which Emerson might have had a hand, together with a wholly new introduction and extensive notes. The recently published Journals and Lectures from this period help bring to this volume a fresh perspective on the first and formative stage of Emerson’s career as a public figure and man of letters.Introduction and Notes by Robert E. Spiller; Text Established by Alfred R. Ferguson
Alfred R. Ferguson (1915–1974) was Professor of English at the University of Massachusetts Boston.
Introduction The Text 1. Nature Editors' Note Introduction Chapter I: Nature Chapter II: Commodity Chapter III: Beauty Chapter IV: Language Chapter V: Discipline Chapter VI: Idealism Chapter VII: Spirit Chapter VIII: Prospects 2. Addresses The American Scholar The Divinity School Address Literary Ethics,br> The Method of Nature 3. Lectures Man the Reformer Lectures on the Times Introductory Lecture,br> The Conservative The Transcendentalist The Young American Notes Parallel Passages Textual Apparatus Hyphenations Alterations in Copy--Text and Rejected Variants Index
The editorial information does not dwarf the work being edited, or make the book unwieldy. This volume of the new Works will serve all needs, from those of the mythical 'general reader' to the most serious Emerson scholar.