"Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist." In these essays Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 – 1882) puts forward the views of the transcendentalist movement of which he was a central figure. Growing out of Romanticism, this movement stressed the importance of the individual and encouraged people to follow their own instincts and ideas. Emerson is considered one of the most influential writers of 19th Century America; Walt Whitman, Henry David Thoreau and even Friedrich Nietzsche are among those who drew inspiration from his ideas. This book contains 21 essays, including ‘Self-Reliance’, ‘The Over-Soul’, ‘The Poet’ and ‘Experience’.  Published by Dent, London and in New York by EP Dutton, 1909. In good condition. Binding slightly loose.