First Series

Essays: First Series is a series of essays written by Ralph Waldo Emerson, published in 1841, concerning transcendentalism.

Essays

The book contains:

"History"
"Self-Reliance"
"Compensation"
"Spiritual Laws"
"Love"
"Friendship"
"Prudence"
"Heroism"
"The Over-Soul"
"Circles"
"Intellect"
"Art"

Reception

Many noted the influence of Thomas Carlyle. An anonymous English reviewer voiced the mainstream view when he wrote that the author of the book "out-Carlyles Carlyle himself," "imitat[ing] his inflations, his verbiage, his Germanico-Kantian abstractions, his metaphysics and mysticism."^[1] Jane Welsh Carlyle agreed, giving her impression in a letter to John Sterling: "I find him getting affected, stilted, mystical, and in short 'a considerable of a bore' A bad immitation [sic] of Carlyle's most Carlylish translations of Goethes [sic] most Goetheish passages!"^[2] For his part, Sterling described them to William Coningham as "the only book of any pith and significance that has dawned here lately . . . which at a glance, seem far ahead in compass and brilliancy of almost everything England has of late years (generations) produced".^[3]

Musical Setting

Three fragments from the essay "Spiritual Laws" form the backbone of composer Kaija Saariaho's True Fire for baritone and orchestra (2014), a piece of music that collages texts from various sources. The piece's title is taken from the essay's final sentence, that concludes also the setting: "We know the authentic effects of the true fire through every one of its million disguises."^[4]

References

^ Myerson, Joel, ed. (1992). "Emerson's Essays". Emerson and Thoreau: The Contemporary Reviews. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 95.
^ "JWC TO JOHN STERLING, 29 April 1841". The Collected Letters of Thomas and Jane Welsh Carlyle. Vol. 13. Durham: Duke University Press. p. 122.
^ "20 June 1841". Sterling's Letters to Coningham. 1872. p. 22.
^ "True Fire | Kaija Saariaho". www.wisemusicclassical.com. Retrieved 2023-12-17.

External links

Essays (compilation of First and Second Series) at Standard Ebooks
Essays: First Series at Google Books.
Essays First Series public domain audiobook at LibriVox

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[1] Myerson, Joel, ed. (1992). "Emerson's Essays". Emerson and Thoreau: The Contemporary Reviews. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 95.

[2] "JWC TO JOHN STERLING, 29 April 1841". The Collected Letters of Thomas and Jane Welsh Carlyle. Vol. 13. Durham: Duke University Press. p. 122.

[3] "20 June 1841". Sterling's Letters to Coningham. 1872. p. 22.

[4] "True Fire | Kaija Saariaho". www.wisemusicclassical.com. Retrieved 2023-12-17.

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v t e Ralph Waldo Emerson
Speeches	"The American Scholar" (1837) "Divinity School Address" (1838) "New England Reformers" (1844)
Poetry	"The Rhodora" (1834) "Concord Hymn" (1836) "Uriel" (1846) "Brahma" (1856) "Boston Hymn" (1863)
Essays	"Nature" (1836) "Self-Reliance" (1841) "Compensation" (1841) "The Over-Soul" (1841) "Circles" (1841) "The Poet" (1844) "Experience" (1844) "Politics" (1844)
Essay collections	Essays: First Series (1841) Essays: Second Series (1844) Representative Men (1850) The Conduct of Life (1860)
Related	Rev. William Emerson (father) Edward Waldo Emerson (son) Mary Moody Emerson (aunt) Ezra Ripley (stepfather) The Atlantic Correspondence with Carlyle "Letter to Martin Van Buren" Ralph Waldo Emerson House The Old Manse Transcendentalism Transcendental Club Concord Museum