Ralph Waldo Emerson is one of the United States’ most well known authors, and one whose work is still read by every student in the country. Emerson was a lecturer, essayist and poet who became the champion of individualism and ended up becoming the Father of the Transcendentalist movement by the mid-1830s. By the middle of the century, he had published dozens of essays and given thousands of lectures on topics like self-reliance, avoiding conformity, and highlighting the connection between men and their environment.
Emerson’s most groundbreaking work was Nature, an essay that became the foundation of Transcendentalism. Nature espoused an appreciation of nature and argued that there were inherent ties between nature and life. Within Emerson’s view of nature, humans were not superior beings but rather one more piece of the system. Nature is often considered the first truly “American” work, in the sense that it did not derive its topic or writing style from Europe first. It also reflected the unique natural environments found across America.
This edition of Nature is specially formatted with a Table of Contents, an original introduction about Emerson's life and writings, and over a dozen images of Emerson and nature.
