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 environmentally connected thinker emerges—a "green" Emerson deeply concerned with the physical world and fascinated with the ability of science to reveal a correspondence between the order of nature and that of the mind. "The Best Read Naturalist" illuminates the vital influence that the study of natural history had on the development of Emerson’s mature philosophy.
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This book restores the green Emerson to a deservedly prominent place in the narrative of American nature writing. Bringing the ecocritical community into contact with these theoretically rich, nature-focused texts is a vital contribution to contemporary environmental scholarship. David M. Roblinson, Oregon State University, author of Emerson and the Conduct of Life: Pragmatism and Ethical Purpose in the Later Work and Natural Life: Thoreaus Worldly Transcendentalism
| Acknowledgments |
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vii | |
| Introduction: Rediscovering the Roots of Emerson's Philosophy of Nature |
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ix | |
| A Note on the Text |
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xxxi | |
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1 | (7) |
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God that Made the World (1832) |
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8 | (9) |
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The Uses of Natural History (1833) |
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17 | (20) |
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On the Relation of Man to the Globe (1834) |
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37 | (21) |
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58 | (14) |
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72 | (40) |
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Humanity of Science (1836) |
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112 | (17) |
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The Method of Nature (1841) |
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129 | (19) |
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148 | (16) |
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The Relation of Intellect to Natural Science (1848) |
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164 | (21) |
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185 | (23) |
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The Natural Method of Mental Philosophy (1858) |
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208 | (17) |
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225 | (20) |
| Suggestions for Further Reading |
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245 | (2) |
| Index |
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247 | |
Michael P. Branch is Professor of Literature and the Environment at the University of Nevada, Reno, and the author or editor of numerous books, including Raising Wild: Dispatches from a Home in the Wilderness and John Muirs Last Journey: South to the Amazon and East to Africa.
Clinton Mohs is a doctoral student in English at the University of Nevada, Reno, and the author of articles on American literatures of the long nineteenth century.
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