Henry David Thoreau

This version of Nature is an 1843 revision to the popular essay written and published in 1836. In the original essay, Emerson put forth the foundation of transcendentalism, and suggested that reality can be understood by studying nature. Within the essay, Emerson divides nature into four usages: Commodity, Beauty, Language and Discipline. These distinctions define how humans use nature for their basic needs, their desire for delight, their communication...

Papers include: manuscript paragraph "Thaddeus Blood," dated 1835 July 30; holograph of essay "Culture" ([1860]), with ALS, RWE to James T. Fields, 1864 Feb. 23, tipped in; two ms. fragments; correspondence 1836-1871, including letters from RWE to Frederic Henry Hedge, to Edward Jarvis (about the return of $10 overpaid RWE as supply minister), to Charles King Newcomb (22 letters, 1842-1858), to Nathaniel Wheeler Coffin, to the editor of The Commonwealth,...