Journals and Miscellaneous Notebooks of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Volume III: 1826–1832

“The present volume covers the period 1826–1832, during which Emerson passed through two major crises in his life—his wooing of, and brief marriage to Ellen Tucker, who died soon after, and his short service in the ministry before deciding that the calling was not for him. Among the pieces included are sermons and notes for sermons…but there is also verse and personal reflection… As in the earlier volumes, the editors compel admiration for the manner in which they have assembled and organized so disparate a selection of literary notes and scraps.”—John Barkham, Saturday Review Syndicate

“The journals (the editing of them is brilliant) are the workshop of a mind. It is amusing to find the young man of 22 writing: ‘My years are passing away. Infirmities are already stealing on me…’; it is tragic to read the husband’s poem beginning ‘And Ellen, when the greybeard years Have brought us to life’s Evening hour’; It is interesting to know he visited Concord prison and went into the cells; but the value of the journals lies in their revelation of Emerson’s mental and spiritual growth. Here is his reading, here are his reflections; here are the germs of his sermons. He is keeping company with Shakespeare and Donne, Montaigne, and Johnson, Wordsworth and Coleridge. Such a volume will command more than one reading.”—The Times Literary Supplement