This volume traces the life, thought and work of Ralph Waldo Emerson, a giant of American intellectual history, whose transforming ideas greatly strengthened the two leading reform issues of his day: abolition and women's rights. A broad and deep, yet cautious revolutionary, he spoke about a spectrum of inner and outer realities-personal, philosophical, theological and cultural-all of which gave his mid-career turn to political and social issues their immediate and lasting power. This multi-authored study frankly explores Emerson's private prejudices against blacks and women while he also...

This volume traces the life, thought and work of Ralph Waldo Emerson, a giant of American intellectual history, whose transforming ideas greatly strengthened the two leading reform issues of his day: abolition and women's rights. A broad and deep, yet cautious revolutionary, he spoke about a spectrum of inner and outer realities-personal, philosophical, theological and cultural-all of which gave his mid-career turn to political and social issues their immediate and lasting power. This multi-authored study frankly explores Emerson's private prejudices against blacks and women while he also...