“I WAS SIMMERING… EMERSON BROUGHT ME TO A BOIL”: EMERSON ON SOCIETY AND SOLITUDE, 1870

EMERSON, Ralph Waldo. Society and Solitude. Twelve Chapters. Boston: Fields, Osgood, 1870. Small octavo, original terracotta cloth gilt, bevelled board edges. Housed in custom chemise and slipcase. $850.

First edition of Emerson’s fine series of philosophical essays on solitude, art, books and courage, “providing a salient exemplification of Emerson’s thought.”

As one of the founders of the transcendentalist movement, Emerson professed a philosophy that recognized the individual, recommended a close communion between man and nature, encouraged independent thought, and cherished "the splendid labyrinth of one's own perceptions." Society and Solitude is a group of twelve essays previously delivered as lectures— on solitude, civilization, art, books, domestic life, old age and success in America—"providing a salient exemplification of Emerson's thought. More than any writer of his time, he forged a style distinct from his European predecessors and embodied and defined what it meant to be an American. Matthew Arnold called Emerson's essays 'the most important work done in prose" (Fredonia Books). Walt Whitman once admitted, "I was simmering, simmering, simmering. Emerson brought me to a boil." BAL 5260. Johnson, 164.

A beautiful copy in fine condition.