The enormous critical resurgence of interest in Ralph Waldo Emerson over the past fifteen years has restored the `Sage of Concord' to his former role as an American icon. At the same time, this renewed interest raises old historical and critical questions about his place in American Transcendentalism, and in American culture generally. This collection of essays seeks to address the variety of critical questions about Emerson and to reevaluate his significance through his own metaphors of insight and influence, particularly that of the `circle'.ROBERT E. BURKHOLDER is Associate Professor of English at the Pennsylvania State University; WESLEY T. MOTTis Professor of English at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Contributors: ROBERT A. GROSS, ALBERT J. VON FRANK, LEN GOUGEON, RONALD A. BOSCO, FRANK SHUFFELTON, PHYLLIS COLE, ROBERT D. RICHARDSON JR, DAVID M. ROBINSON, DANIEL SHEALY, HELEN R. DEESE, KENT P. LJUNGQUIST, GARY L. COLLISON, PHILIP F. GURA

Transcendentalist Ralph Waldo Emerson's 1841 essay "Circles" reflects on the endless circles found in nature, and the fluidity of the universe. He encourages the embracing of new thoughts and ideas: "No truth so sublime but it may be trivial to-morrow in the light of new thoughts. People wish to be settled; only as far as they are unsettled is there any hope for them." This short work is part of Applewood's American Roots, series, tactile mementos of American passions by some of America's most famous writers and thinkers.

The debut picture book from the creator of the viral sensation Kid President is a moving take on how we can create bigger and bigger circles of community and connections as we grow—now a New York Times bestseller! In the circles all around us, everywhere that we all go, there's a difference we can make and a love we can all show. This is the story of a circle. When we're first born, our circle is very small, but as we grow and build relationships, our circle keeps getting bigger and bigger to include family, friends, neighbors, community, and beyond. Brad Montague originally created Circles as an Instagram video adorably narrated by his kids, and now this picture book adaptation is the perfect way to start a conversation about how to expand our worlds with kindness and inclusivity—even if it seems scary or uncomfortable. This book makes an ideal new-baby, first-day-of-school, or graduation gift, or any milestone that celebrates someone's world getting bigger.

Prior to the Civil War, publishing in America underwent a transformation from a genteel artisan trade supported by civic patronage and religious groups to a thriving, cut-throat national industry propelled by profit. Literary Dollars and Social Sense represents an important chapter in the historical experience of print culture, it illuminates the phenomenon of amateur writing and delineates the access points of the emerging mass market for print for distributors consumers and writers. It challenges the conventional assumptions that the literary public had little trouble embracing the new literary marketing that emerged at mid-century. The book uncover the tensions that author's faced between literature's role in the traditional moral economy and the lure of literary dollars for personal gain and fame. This book marks an important example in how scholars understand and conduct research in American literature.

A seminal figure in American literature and philosophy, Ralph Waldo Emerson is considered the apostle of self-reliance, fully alive within his ideas and disarmingly confident about his innermost thoughts. Yet the circumstances around "The American Scholar" oration--his first great public address and the most celebrated talk in American academic history--suggest a different Emerson. In Understanding Emerson, Kenneth Sacks draws on a wealth of contemporary correspondence and diaries, much of it previously unexamined, to reveal a young intellectual struggling to define himself and his principles. Caught up in the fierce dispute between his Transcendentalist colleagues and Harvard, the secular bastion of Boston Unitarianism and the very institution he was invited to honor with the annual Phi Beta Kappa address, Emerson agonized over compromising his sense of self-reliance while simultaneously desiring to meet the expectations of his friends. Putting aside self-doubts and a resistance to controversy, in the end he produced an oration of extraordinary power and authentic vision that propelled him to greater awareness of social justice, set the standard for the role of the intellectual in America, and continues to point the way toward educational reform. In placing this singular event within its social and philosophical context, Sacks opens a window into America's nineteenth-century intellectual landscape as well as documenting the evolution of Emerson's idealism. Engagingly written, this book, which includes the complete text of "The American Scholar," allows us to appreciate fully Emerson's brilliant rebuke of the academy and his insistence that the most important truths derive not from books and observation but from intuition within each of us. Rising defiantly before friend and foe, Emerson triumphed over his hesitations, redirecting American thought and pedagogy and creating a personal tale of quiet heroism.

Publisher Description

Emerson has maintained his place as one of the seminal figures in American history and literature. He was the acknowledged leader of the Transcendentalist movement. These essays discuss Emerson's life as well as women's rights, slavery and religion.