The complete sermons of Ralph Waldo Emerson

Abstract

final book in the series, The Complete Sermons of Ralph Waldo focuses on a crossroads in Emerson's life, the year 1832, when he resigned from his ministry at the Second Church of Boston. Volume 4 presents annotated texts of eight occasional sermons in addition to 27 regular sermons, and an annotated text of relevant portions of the official records of the Second Church of Boston during Emerson's ministry. sermons should provide a thorough understanding of the evolution of Emerson's thought in the years immediately preceeding the 1836 publication of Nature, a treatise of importance to 19th century American literature. Among the features of the present volume is a new text of Emerson's sermon The Lord's Supper. This sermon has been transcribed from the manuscript Emerson read from on the occasion of its only delivery. sermon was pivotal in Emerson's career and said to be historically important because of the controversy that insued over formalism in religion. Transcribed and edited from manuscripts in Harvard University's Houghton Library, the sermons are presented in a clear text in an effort to approximate as nearly as possible the original version delivered to Emerson's congregation. An index for the entire four-volume collection is included in this volume.

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