The Cambridge Companion to Ralph Waldo Emerson CAMBRIDGE COMPANION TO

The Cambridge Companion to Ralph Waldo Emerson provides a critical introduction to pastor and poet, Ralph Waldo Emerson, author of Nature and The Conduct of Life. The tradition of American literature and philosophy as we know it at the end of the twentieth century was largely shaped by Emerson's example and practice. This volume offers students, scholars, and the general reader a collection of fresh interpretations of Emerson's writing, milieu, influence, and cultural significance. All essays are newly commissioned for this volume, written at an accessible yet challenging level, and augmented by a comprehensive chronology and bibliography.

Introduction: representing America - the Emerson legacy Joel Porte; 1. Transcendentalism and its times David Robinson; 2. Ralph Waldo Emerson in his family Phyllis Cole; 3. The Radical Emerson? Robert Milder; 4. Emerson as lecturer: man thinking, man saying R. Jackson Wilson; 5. Emerson and nature Robert D. Richardson Jr; 6. Essays: first series (1841) Albert J. von Frank; 7. Transcendental friendship Jeffrey Steele; 8. Terms for Emerson: essays, Second Series Julie Ellison; 9. 'The Remembering Wine': Emerson's influence on Whitman and Dickinson Catherine Tufariello; 10. Post-colonial Emerson and the erasure of Europe Robert Weisbuch; 11. Metre-making arguments: Emerson's poems Saundra Morris; 12. The conduct of life: Emerson's anatomy of power Michael Lopez.

The Cambridge Companion to Ralph Waldo Emerson provides a critical introduction to Emerson's work. The tradition of American literature and philosophy as we know it at the end of the twentieth century was largely shaped by Emerson's example and practice.