Nature Published
Title page of the first edition of Nature.
On September 9, 1836, Ralph Waldo Emerson’s first significant work—a book-length essay titled “Nature”—was printed and offered for sale. Interestingly, Emerson originally did not take credit for it but published it anonymously. Subsequent printings carried his name.
“Nature” was the culmination of several years of Emerson’s work and thought that began on his return voyage from Europe to America in 1833. In “Nature” he explores for the first time the connections between God, the soul, and nature. “The lover of nature is he whose inward and outward senses are still truly adjusted to each other; who has retained the spirit of infancy even into the era of manhood. His intercourse with heaven and earth, becomes part of his daily food.”
Reflecting on his own experiences in nature, Emerson wrote: “In the woods we return to reason and faith…I become a transparent eye-ball; I am nothing; I see all; the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or particle of God.” The transparent eye-ball analogy suggested that to appreciate nature, one must absorb all that nature has to offer.
— B. Ewen, Emerson House guide
