The Topical Notebooks of Ralph Waldo Emerson v. 2

This the second in a three-volume edition that brings twelve of Emerson's topical notebooks and four other notebooks into print for the first time. These notebooks were Emerson's repositories for anecdotes, quotations, reminiscences, drafts of his poems, outlines for lectures, and observations on everything from daily life to cultural and philosohical issues. Among the main features of the five notebooks in this volume, ""Orientalist"" ,in particular, provides an opportunity to study Emerson's adaptation of Eastern thought. In his introduction, Bosco discusses how Emerson's method in compiling ""Orientalist"", and the other notebooks collected here ,is integral to his belief in the transcendental character of nature and fate. Detailed annotations describe and comment on erased or revised passages, translate Greek or Latin quotations and identify other words mentioned in the notebooks. References to similar passages in Emerson's published and unpublished writings are also provided. In addition, there is an index provided by the editors as well as an appendix with Emerson's own index to his notebooks.