Concord Edition. The Complete Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson. With a Biographical Introduction and Notes by Edward Waldo Emerson and a General Index, ... Vol. III. Essays: Second Series

Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803 – April 27, 1882), known professionally as Waldo Emerson, was an American essayist, lecturer, and poet who led the transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. He was seen as a champion of individualism and a prescient critic of the countervailing pressures of society, and he disseminated his thoughts through dozens of published essays and more than 1,500 public lectures across the United States.