[Item #5524] Ralph Waldo Emerson: An Estimation of His Genius in Prose and Verse. A. Bronson Alcott, Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Ralph Waldo Emerson: An Estimation of His Genius in Prose and Verse
Ralph Waldo Emerson: An Estimation of His Genius in Prose and Verse

Ralph Waldo Emerson: An Estimation of His Genius in Prose and Verse

Boston, MA: A. Williams & Co., 1882. First Edition. Hardcover. “The ancients entertained noble notions of the poet. He was an enthusiast and a rhapsodist. His work was done in surprise and delight. And all good epic poets were thought to compose, not by choice, but by inspiration; and so, too, the good lyric poets drew, they tell us, ‘from fountains flowing with nectar, and gathered flowers from the gardens and glades of the Muses; they, like bees, being ever on the wing. For the poet was a thing light-winged and sacred, unable to compose until he became inspired, and the imagination was no longer under his control. For as long as he was in complete possession of it, he was unable to compose verses or to speak oracularly. And hence all noble numbers were credited by them, not to the poet whom they knew, but to the Power working in and through him, and making him the most delighted of auditors whenever he chanted his verses, because he did not conceive them to be his” (pgs. 1-3). So writes the great Transcendentalist author, philosopher, and educator, Amos Bronson Alcott. This volume, “Ralph Waldo Emerson: His Character and Genius” is among the very rarest Alcott works anywhere procurable. The only available volume We at TMB were able to find is an obscure listing (entirely unaccompanied by pictures, mind you) seriously lacking in the description department. We at TMB aim to provide a welcome contrast, challenging as it is to gather information on this obscure title. What is known, however, is as follows: the text was written in 1864 (when Alcott was approximately 65 years old) “in praise of his friend Emerson,” as Alcott.net helpfully notes. Initially titled “The Rhapsodist,” the work was “privately printed and presented to Emerson as a surprise for his sixty-second birthday on May 25, 1865.” The edition as published for Emerson’s birthday, so far as we know, was not “an edition” at all — as no copies [that we know of] have anywhere turned up. What is left of Emerson and Alcott’s own archives has been little help in this regard, as well. We do know, however, that Alcott had the book formally printed after Emerson’s death in 1882, — hence this publication, here. While it is, in this sense, the real First Edition, it is not the real “First Printing,” because the real “First Printing” has yet to be found, and was likely 1 of 1, with Alcott keeping only the essay in manuscript. The Beats and the Transcendentalists idea(s) of Friendship were, at heart, equally informed by German Romantic Idealism—by the “emotionally intense” nature of friendship at its most artful & best. Emerson tried for decades to wrangle the genius that Alcott so effortlessly dispensed with (in company and conversation) onto the page for everyone else to recognize & enjoy, — to democratize his spirit for all eternity; to divvy up shares for the world to inherit. This project took shape over the course of two works, really — Alcott’s “Orphic Sayings” (first printed in the Transcendentalists’ equivalent to Beatitude Magazine, “The Dial”), and 1868’s “Tablets.” Alcott did, however publish four works from 1830-1837, two of which are rightly recognized now as the classics that they are. These “classics” are, of course, his two-volume “Conversations with Children on the Gospels,” — not merely a liturgical/theological work, but much more of a sui generis combination of philosophy, child psychology, and sociology. A work that has to be read to be believed, and one that probably has eternal relevance to parenting (or dealing with children in any capacity, for that matter). Here, however, Alcott repays the great debt of time and attention that Emerson himself sacrificed in support of his friend’s un-domesticable pen. Hardcover in illustrated boards: First “A. Williams & Co.” Edition of 1882 — among the rarest Alcott titles in its rarest procurable form. In strong fine condition with only moderate-to-enunciated shelf-wear, similarly moderate-to-enunciated bumping, light chipping to fine-edges & corners of front, back covers & spine-edge; a few scattered nicks & light rubbing to same; pronounced separation at interior binding, delicate but still entirely attached; some moisture staining to text block; aged (perhaps 100 years but likely not contemporary) inscription relaying Emerson’s birth and death dates near topmost fine-edge of Recto of FFEP at interior, else pristine. Very Fine. [Item #5524]

Price: $300.00