Cover: Title page of the first edition (Boston: James Munroe and Company, 1841) · Public domain (Wikimedia Commons scan) · source
Essays: First Series
Ralph Waldo Emerson · 1803–1882
Twelve essays — History, Self-Reliance, Compensation, Spiritual Laws, Love, Friendship, Prudence, Heroism, The Over-Soul, Circles, Intellect and Art — that make the case for a mind that trusts its own perception and finds the universal in the particular. A book to read one essay a week.
- First published
- 1841
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Reading time
- About 5 hours
- Translation
- Written in English
Reading time: 74,458 words in Project Gutenberg text #2944, read at 238 words per minute.
Published as Essays in 1841 and renamed after the Second Series appeared in 1844.
- the Over-Soul
- compensation
- friendship
- self-trust
- nature of mind
Where to read it
- Read free — Project GutenbergPublic domain in the USA; check your local law outside it. · checked 11 Oct 2026(opens in a new tab)
- Read free — WikisourcePublic domain transcription. · checked 11 Oct 2026(opens in a new tab)
- Read free — Standard Ebooks (First and Second Series)Public domain text, carefully proofread and produced. · checked 11 Oct 2026(opens in a new tab)
Copyright
- Kenya
- Public domain
- United States
- Public domain
NOESIS hosts no book files. Links lead to the sources named.
Questions for discussion
In 'Compensation', Emerson says every excess causes a defect. Is the world as balanced as he claims?
What is the Over-Soul, and how does it differ from the God of the faith you know best?
'Circles' says every end is a beginning. Where have you seen that in your own life?
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