Professor Ellison demonstrates that the characteristic difficulties of Emerson's prose--its repetitiveness, discontinuity, and tonal peculiarities--are motivated by his use of interpretation to free himself from recurringly intimidating aspects of tradition. Originally published in 1984. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

In 1832, Emerson made his famous decision to pursue wholeness in his life and in his writing. The Emerson Museum shows how this undertaking transformed American literary practice by turning the legacy of European romanticism into a writing project answerable to American urgencies.

"Comparative study in transatlantic Romanticism that traces the links between German idealism, British Romanticism (Wordsworth, Coleridge, Carlyle), and American Transcendentalism. Focuses on Emerson's development and use of the concept of intuitive Reason, which became the intellectual and emotional foundation of American Transcendentalism"--Provided by publisher.

"Rather than choose between Emerson and Nietzsche, Mikics attends to Nietzsche's struggle with Emerson's example and influence. Elegant in his delivery, Mikics offers a significant commentary on the visions of several contemporary theorists whose interests intersect with those of Emerson and Nietzsche, especially Stanley Cavell, Jacques Lacan, Slavoj Zizek, and Harold Bloom."--BOOK JACKET.

This book provides an original account of Emerson's creative debts to the British and European Romantics, including Coleridge and Carlyle, firmly locating them in his New England context. Moreover this book analyses and explains the way that his thought shapes his unique prose style in which idea and word become united in an epistemology of form.