Ralph Waldo Emerson is one of the most important figures in American nature writing, yet until now readers have had no book devoted to this central theme in his work. -The Best Read Naturalist- fills this lacuna, placing several of Emerson's lesser-known pieces of nature writing in conversation with his canonical essays. Organized chronologically, the thirteen selections--made up of sermons, lectures, addresses, and essays--reveal an engagement with natural history that spanned Emerson's career. As we watch him grapple with what he called the -book of nature, - a more...