Emerson: The Mind on Fire

By Robert D. Richardson

Categories: Biographies & Memoirs, Religion & Spirituality

Robert D. Richardson's intellectual biography of Ralph Waldo Emerson sets aside the image of the passionless Sage of Concord. Drawing on his journals, letters and conversations and on the books he read, it portrays a young suitor, grieving widower, affectionate father and loyal friend. It opens with Emerson opening the coffin of his first wife, Ellen Tucker, who died of tuberculosis early in their marriage, and follows his resignation from the Boston ministry, his essays, lectures and friendships (University of California Press).

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• Ryan Holiday: “Richardson's Emerson: Mind on Fire (which is amazing and you must read)”