"A comprehensive collection of writings by "the most influential writer of the nineteenth century" (Harold Bloom) Ralph Waldo Emerson's diverse body of work has done more than perhaps any other thinker to shape and define the American mind. Literary giants including Henry David Thoreau, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Walt Whitman were among Emerson's admirers and proteges, while his central text, Nature, singlehandedly engendered an entire spiritual and...

"Ralph Waldo Emerson was one of the great minds of the mid-nineteenth century. His thoughts and views led the Transcendentalist movement, and his writings-especially Self-Reliance-taught people to "trust thyself" and see how their self-worth was more important than anything else. Emerson on Self-Reliance is a wonderful collection of writings that will teach not only how to have a better perception of the world, but also how you are capable of having...

Presents the letters, essays, and poems of the celebrated American writer and provides running commentaries to help shed light on particular passages and examine the writer's motives and style.

Gathers Thoreau's influential works, including "Walden," "Civil Disobedience," and "Slavery in Massachusetts," which reflect the naturalist's thoughts on self-reliance and moral independence.