The Later Lectures of Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1843-1871

Drawing primarily from previously unpublished manuscripts in the Ralph Waldo Emerson Memorial Association Collection in the Houghton Library at Harvard University, recent editions of Emerson's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 The two-volume Later Lectures of Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1843–1871, presents the texts of forty-eight complete and unpublished lectures delivered during the crucial middle years of Emerson's career.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:

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.