Representative Men

Introduction by Brenda WineappleIn 1845 Ralph Waldo Emerson began a series of lectures and writings in which he limned six figures who embodied the principles and aspirations of a still-young American republic. Emerson offers timeless meditations on the value of individual greatness, reconnecting readers with the everyday virtues of his Representative Men: Plato, in whose writings are contained the culture of nations; Emanuel Swedenborg, a rich discoverer who strove to unite the scientific and spiritual planes; Michel de Montaigne, the frankest and honestest of all writers; William Shakespeare, who wrote the text of modern life; Napoleon Bonaparte, who had the virtues and vices of common men writ large; and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who in conversation, in calamityfinds new materials.This Modern Library Paperback Classic reflects the authors corrections for an 1876 reprinting.