Essays

Ralph Waldo Emerson was one of the forerunners of the American transcendentalist movement in the mid-1800s. At a time when the predominant spiritual theory stated that man was inherently evil, Emerson offered a counterpoint: that goodness was inherent in both man and nature, and to experience the mundane was in itself a spiritual experience.

This collection includes some of his most famous essays, including:

• The American Scholar
• Compensation
• Self-Reliance
• Friendship
• Heroism
• Manners
• Gifts
• Nature
• Shakespeare; Or, the Poet
• Prudence
• Circles