These are the journals of Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) in PDF Acrobat Reader format. They derive from the 1904-14 edition of the Journals edited by Emerson's son Edward and form 5000 pages of material. Volume 9 (1856-1863) finds Emerson continuing to write and lecture, even as the Civil War rages. His friend Henry Thoreau dies in 1862, leaving Emerson without one of his closest collegues and critics. Trips to Washington to meet President Lincoln and to central states broadens his experience. The book of essays "Conduct of Life" appears in this period.

From the Publisher:

        The Digital Journals of Ralph Waldo Emerson is an archive provided by The Ralph Waldo Emerson Institute and www.rwe.org for the use and convenience of interested students of the life and works of America’s Founding Thinker, Ralph Waldo Emerson. The source of these digital Journals is the ten-volume Edward Emerson edition, originally published in Boston from 1904 through 1914, and comprising over 5,000 pages of material.

        The main advantages of the Digital Journal Archive over the printed volumes are the search and read aloud features available in Acrobat Reader. Users can find names, dates, places, and, most important, words and ideas in a relative instant. Emerson used his journals as his “savings bank,” as he called them, to record and then use thoughts and insights for later use in essays, lectures and sermons. Therefore, the journals hide the seed of an entire essay, but they also reveal more private thoughts and personal observations which never found their way into the Complete Works. In all, the Journals are a fascinating and valuable record of a lifetime of inspiration and insight.

         Richard G Geldard, PhD,

         General Editor, Digital Archive