The Complete Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson - Volume 1

THE COMPLETE WORKS OF RALPH WALDO EMERSON - VOLUME 1: American Scholar Digital Editions is proud and privileged to offer the twelve volume set of "The Complete Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson" in electronic book format for the first time. Our editions are based on the Centenary Edition published in 1903 and edited by Edward Waldo Emerson. There can hardly be an argument that Ralph Waldo Emerson is the greatest humanist/philosophical mind produced in the Western Hemisphere. Over a 120 years ago, the legendary German philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche, a man not given to praising his contemporaries much, if at all, picked Emerson as the best there was writing in English. (And he handily reworked Emersonian themes without attribution, I should add.) From a literary/artistic point of view; the 12 volumes - The Complete Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson - represent a truly astonishing body of thought, both in depth and breadth. To read a paragraph, an essay, or an entire volume is to hear a series of bells chiming with truth. The Emersonian style - taut sentences carrying shimmering ideas - cascades page on page, covering the scope of human experience: friendship, death, love, God, nature, commerce, education, evil, grace, politics... Emerson writes on each with a passion and lucidity that always leaves lovers of the finest prose breathless. His poetry (and he thought of himself as primarily a poet) is a fine grouping that takes us along a spiritual journey - from the death of his beloved son - to odes written for a favorite riverbank. His biographies of such figures as Michelangelo and Plato are insightful ... delightful ... and as understanding as any written in the English language. A classic "classic", "The Complete Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson" is a timelessly crafted monument to human intellect. Every page is replete with vintage genius to be sipped and savored like the finest wines.Ted Dracos, Editor & Publisher; American Scholar Digital Editions.TABLE OF CONTENTS:PREFACE TO THE CENTENARY EDITION; INTRODUCTION; NATURE; COMMODITY; BEAUTY;LANGUAGE; DISCIPLINE; IDEALISM; SPIRIT; PROSPECTS; THE AMERICAN SCHOLAR; AN ADDRESS;LITERARY ETHICS; THE METHOD OF NATURE;MEN THE REFORMER;LECTURE ON THE TIMES; THE CONSERVATIVE; THE TRANSCENDENTALIST; THE YOUNG AMERICAN.