Synopses & Reviews
Drawing primarily from previously unpublished manuscripts in the Ralph Waldo Emerson Memorial Association Collection in the Houghton Library at Harvard University, recent editions of Emerson’s correspondence, journals and notebooks, sermons, and early lectures have provided authoritative texts that inspire readers to consider Emerson’s place in American culture afresh. The two-volume
Later Lectures of Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1843–1871, presents the texts of forty-eight complete and unpublished lectures delivered during the crucial middle years of Emerson’s career. They offer his thoughts on New England and “Old World” history and culture, poetic theory, education, the history and uses of intellect—as well as his ideas on race relations and women’s rights, subjects that sparked many debates. These final volumes contain some of Emerson’s most timelessly relevant work and are sure to engage and inform any reader interested in discovering one of our country’s greatest intellectuals.
The following sections, although appearing only in the volume designated, contain information that pertains to both volumes and are available on the University of Georgia Press website.
Volume 1: 1843–1854 contains:
- Preface
- Works Frequently Cited
- Historical and Textual Introduction
-
Volume 2: 1855–1871 contains:
- Manuscript Sources of Emerson’s Later Lectures in the Houghton Library of Harvard University
- Index to Works by Emerson
- General Index
Review
“A milestone in Emerson scholarship . . . Bosco and Myerson’s two volumes will be immediately useful to the specialist carefully tracking the development and evolution of Emerson’s thought and artistry. . . . Emerson once more steps to the lectern and unfolds his manuscript. It has been worth the wait.”—New England Quarterly
Review
“A signal event, providing a more accurate delineation of the development of Emerson’s thought in his last three productive decades.”—American Literary Scholarship
About the Author
Ronald A. Bosco is Distinguished Professor of English and American Literature at the University at Albany, State University of New York, and general editor of The Collected Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson. Joel Myerson is Carolina Distinguished Professor of American Literature Emeritus at the University of South Carolina.
Table of Contents
Preface / ix
Works Frequently Cited / xiii
Historical and Textual Introduction / xvii
New England, 1843 –1844: Series Headnote / 3
New England, Lecture I: “The Genius and National Character
of the Anglo-Saxon Race,” 10 January 1843 / 7
New England, Lecture II: “The Trade of New England,”
17 January 1843 / 19
New England, Lecture III: “New England: Genius, Manners, and Customs,”
28 January 1843 / 39
New England, Lecture IV: “New England: Recent Literary and
Spiritual Influences,” 30 January 1843 / 57
“Address to the Temperance Society at Harvard, Massachusetts,
4 July 1843” / 71
“Discourse Read Before the Philomathesian Society of Middlebury College
in Vermont, 22 July 1845” and “Discourse Read Before the Philorhetorian
and Peithologian Societies of Wesleyan College in Connecticut,
6 August 1845” / 81
“The Spirit of the Times,” 15 February 1848 / 101
Mind and Manners of the Nineteenth Century, 1848 –1849:
Series Headnote / 129
Mind and Manners of the Nineteenth Century, Lecture I:
“The Powers and Laws of Thought,” 6 June 1848 / 134
Mind and Manners of the Nineteenth Century, Lecture II: “The Relation
of Intellect to Natural Science,” 8 June 1848 / 152
Mind and Manners of the Nineteenth Century, Lecture III: “The Tendencies
and Duties of Men of Thought,” 10 June 1848 / 173
“England,” 5 December 1848 / 190
“London,” 3 January 1849 / 210
Conduct of Life, 1851–1853: Series Headnote / 227
Conduct of Life: “Wealth,” 25 March 1851 / 229
Conduct of Life: “Economy,” 27 March 1851 / 239
Conduct of Life: “Fate,” 22 December 1851 / 249
“Address to the Citizens of Concord
on the Fugitive Slave Law, 3 May 1851” / 259
“The Anglo-American,” 7 December 1852 / 277
“Poetry and English Poetry, 10 January 1854” / 296
“France, or Urbanity,” 17 January 1854 / 308
“Seventh of March Speech on the Fugitive Slave Law, 7 March 1854” / 333
“An Address to the Adelphic Union of Williamstown College,
15 August 1854” and “An Address to the Social Union of Amherst College,
8 August 1855” / 348