Book Review: The Essays of Ralph Waldo Emerson The First and Second Series

 

The Essays of Ralph Waldo Emmerson are basically a collection of relatively short philosophical papers that Emmerson wrote on different topics such as Love, Politics, Manners, Friendship, etc. The most well-known essay is probably Self-Reliance, his essay on individualism.

The Easton Press version has both series of essays in one volume. The book is relatively short, right around 300 pages (including the introduction at the beginning). Even though it is short it is written in 1800s old-style formal English, so it is not the easiest thing to read and grasp exactly what he is getting at without slowing down and re-reading some parts. But, if you are a relatively fast reader, you can probably get through it in a couple of days.

The essays are interesting, but obviously, a lot of what Emmerson says and opines on is informed by the times in which he lived. He discusses not only his own views on the various subjects but how different philosophers throughout history would have viewed (or actually viewed) those subjects as well. I would not classify this as a must-read book, but if you are into history and/or philosophy, it is absolutely an interesting read.