An Uneasy Solitude: Individual and Society in the Work of Ralph Waldo Emerson (Princeton Legacy Library, 4161)

This subtle intellectual biography juxtaposes Ralph Waldo Emerson's revolutionary spiritual thinking with his elitist ideas of race and property--a contrast so sharp as to make his personality seem almost incoherent." Writing in (he great modern tradition of French anglicisles, Maurice Gonnaud compares Emerson's taste for solitude and the lyric ardor it awakened in him to his efforts to confront the social pressures of his times.Originally published in 1987.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 Cover ......Page 1 Contents......Page 6 Foreword, by Eric Cheyfitz......Page 8 Translator's Preface, by Lawrence Rosenwald......Page 20 Author's Preface to the French Edition......Page 22 Abbreviations......Page 28 Part I The Uncertainties of a Vocation......Page 30 Part II The Discovery and Glorification of the Self......Page 138 Part III From Ideal Democracy to Natural Aristocracy......Page 286 Part IV Individual and Citizen......Page 414 Bibliography of Emerson's Writings......Page 492 Index......Page 498