born May 25, 1803, Boston, Mass., U.S.
died April 27, 1882, Concord
U.S. poet, essayist, and lecturer.
Emerson graduated from Harvard University and was ordained a Unitarian minister in 1829. His questioning of traditional doctrine led him to resign the ministry three years later. He formulated his philosophy in Nature (1836); the book helped initiate New England Transcendentalism , a movement of which he soon became the leading exponent. In 1834 he moved to Concord, Mass., the home of his friend Henry David Thoreau . His lectures on the proper role of the scholar and the waning of the Christian tradition caused considerable controversy. In 1840, with Margaret Fuller , he helped launch The Dial , a journal that provided an outlet for Transcendentalist ideas. He became internationally famous with his Essays (1841, 1844), including "Self-Reliance." Representative Men (1850) consists of biographies of historical figures. The Conduct of Life (1860), his most mature work, reveals a developed humanism and a full awareness of human limitations. His Poems (1847) and May-Day (1867) established his reputation as a major poet.
Ralph Waldo Emerson, lithograph by Leopold Grozelier, 1859
By courtesy of The Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.