Kindle Price: $13.99

Save $13.01 (48%)

Promotions apply when you purchase

These promotions will be applied to this item:

Some promotions may be combined; others are not eligible to be combined with other offers. For details, please see the Terms & Conditions associated with these promotions.

eBook features:
  • Highlight, take notes, and search in the book
  • In this edition, page numbers are just like the physical edition
Read with our free app
You've subscribed to ! We will preorder your items within 24 hours of when they become available. When new books are released, we'll charge your default payment method for the lowest price available during the pre-order period.
Update your device or payment method, cancel individual pre-orders or your subscription at
Your Memberships & Subscriptions

Buy for others

Give as a gift or purchase for a team or group.
Learn more

Buying and sending eBooks to others

  1. Select quantity
  2. Buy and send eBooks
  3. Recipients can read on any device

These ebooks can only be redeemed by recipients in the US. Redemption links and eBooks cannot be resold.
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the authors

Ralph Waldo Emerson
+ Follow
Malcolm Cowley
+ Follow
See all
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

The Portable Emerson: New Edition (Portable Library) Revised ed. Edition, Kindle Edition

by Ralph Waldo Emerson (Author), Carl Bode (Editor), Malcolm Cowley (Editor) Format: Kindle Edition
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 72 ratings
See all formats and editions
This volume, edited by Carl Bode in collaboration with Malcolm Cowley, presents the essential Emerson, selected from works that eloquently express the philosophy of a worldly idealist. The Portable Emerson comprises essays, including “History,” “Self-Reliance,” “The Over-Soul,” “Circles,” and “The Poet”; Emerson’s first book, Nature, in its entirety; twenty-two poems, including “Uriel,” “The Humble-Bee,” and “Give All to Love”; orations, including “The American Scholar,” “The Fugitive Slave Law,” and “John Brown”; English Traits, complete; and biographical essays on Plato, Napoleon, Henry David Thoreau, Thomas Carlyle, and others.
Read more Read less
Previous page
  1. ISBN-13
    978-0140150940
  2. Edition
    Revised ed.
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Penguin Books
  5. Publication date
    August 27, 1981
  6. Part of series
    Portable Library
  7. Language
    English
  8. File size
    2581 KB
  9. See all details
Next page
Add a debit or credit card to save time when you check out
Convenient and secure with 2 clicks. Add your card
Next 5 for you in this series See full series
Total Price: $76.95
By clicking on the above button, you agree to Amazon's Kindle Store Terms of Use

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Malcolm Cowley, one of America's best-known literary critics, was literary editor of the "New"" Republic"" "from 1929 to 1940. Among his many books are "Exile's Return,"" After the Genteel Tradition,"" "and, most recently, "The Faulkner-Cowley File."
Henry Dan Piper is Profes-sor of English at Southern Illinois University. His most recent book is "F. Scott Fitzgerald: A Critical Portrait."


Herman Melville said that Ralph Waldo Emerson possessed a "self-conceit so intensely intellectual that at first one hesitates to call it by its right name," though he later admitted Emerson was "a great man." Both were probably true. The Sage of Concord gave more than 1500 speeches in his lifetime, and Self-Reliance is probably his most important work.

Carl Bode is Professor of English at the University of Maryland. Among his other books on American cultural and literary history are "Antebellum Culture,"" The American Lyceum,"" "and the recent bestseller, "Mencken."

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0031TZCAK
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin Books; Revised ed. edition (August 27, 1981)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ August 27, 1981
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 2581 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 722 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 72 ratings

About the authors

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Previous page
  1. Ralph Waldo Emerson

    Ralph Waldo Emerson

    Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
    Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

    There are few people as quoted and quotable as Ralph Waldo Emerson, founder of the transcendental movement and author of classic essays as Self-Reliance, Nature, and The American Scholar. Emerson began his career as a Unitarian minister and later put those oratory skills to move us toward a better society. More remains written on him than by him.

    See more on the author's page
  2. Malcolm Cowley

    Malcolm Cowley

    Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
    Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

    Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

    See more on the author's page
Next page

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
72 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Michael A. Lloyd
5.0 out of 5 stars An inspiring classic
Reviewed in the United States on February 4, 2014
Verified Purchase
Ralph Waldo Emerson is an iconic figure in American history. Now that I have grown older, I am able to appreciate him more and more. His essays, in particular are extremely inspiring and well written, and the philosophy resonated with me. I read all and enjoyed all the speeches in the collection, but many modern readers probably will not be as interested; the essays should be read first. (Though the eulogy for Thoreau is well worth reading by anybody who has read Thoreau.) The poems...well, they are out of date, in my opinion.. The collection itself is a classic; Malcolm Cowley, who compiled the anthology, was a major literary figure himself in the early 20th Century. (PS: I would have rated it far more than stars, if I could.)
2 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Rachel Rosinski
5.0 out of 5 stars very nice
Reviewed in the United States on September 18, 2019
Verified Purchase
nice book, came in mail quickly, good quality
Helpful
 Report
Ed Barton
4.0 out of 5 stars Philosopher, Poet, Psychologist
Reviewed in the United States on April 21, 2013
Verified Purchase
This version of the Portable Emerson, as edited by Carl Bode (there are a couple of editions), provides the reader with an excellent cross-section of Emerson's works. Containing nearly 700 pages, the book will introduce you to Emerson-the man and the philosophical thinker. One of the fathers of Transcendentalism, his views of society and nature are as valid toay as they were 175 years ago. His insights into some of the great men of history (Plato and Napoleon are included in this volume) as well as the English people have a wit and wisdom that is characteristic of his writings. The philosophies brought forth in essays such as "Nature", "Transcendentalist" and "Spiritual Laws" provide great insights into Emerson's world view. His poetry and letters, contained at the end of the volume, introduce the reader more fully to the politics and creative mind of this unique American mind. A good introduction to Emerson.
7 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Cindy1210
5.0 out of 5 stars The Portable Emerson
Reviewed in the United States on January 31, 2013
Verified Purchase
If you love Emerson, you will love this paperback of his memorable works. Easy to carry and a wonderful book to carry while traveling.
Helpful
 Report
Roger Carrier
5.0 out of 5 stars Emerson, the Great Sage
Reviewed in the United States on November 22, 2007
Note: Your "helpful" votes are appreciated. Thanks. A couple Mormon readers have given me negative marks because of my reviews of books in defense of the Book of Mormon. Oh, well, I write my reviews for fun and as a little hobby.

Most educated people are familiar with Emerson's epigrams of wisdom, but there is a whole world to explore in his essays and poems. "The Portable Emerson" gives the reader an excellent overview of Emerson's major works.

Emerson's comments in the "American Scholar" about his own time place our age in perspective:

"Our age is bewailed as the age of introversion. Must that needs be evil. We, it seems, are critical; we are embarrassed with second thoughts; we cannot enjoy any thing for hankering to know whereof the pleasure consists; we are lined with eyes; we see with our feet; the time is infected with Hamlet's unhappiness,--
'Sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought.'"

I hope you find something you like in my little review. Here is part of "The Problem," a poem:

I like a church; I like a cowl; (cowl: a monk's hooded cloak)
I love a prophet of the soul;
And on my heart monastic aisles
Fall like sweet strains, or pensive smiles;
Yet not for all his faith can see
Would I that cowled churchman be.

A poem: "The Rhodora: On Being Asked, Whence Is The Flower?"

"Tell them, dear, that if eyes were made for seeing,
Then Beauty is its own excuse for being."

"Merlin," a poem:

"But mount to paradise
By the stairway of surprise."

And always remember the "Concord Hymn" (sung on July 4, 1837 at the dedication of the monument at Concord). Today near the bridge, there are some British flags to mark the graves of two of the King's soldiers. There are some neat unidentified lines that might have come from Emerson.

"Here lie two British soldiers who sailed three thousand miles across the ocean to keep the past upon the throne."

"By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April's breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood
And fired the shot heard round the world."
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
C. Middleton
5.0 out of 5 stars A Man of Great Intellect and Heart
Reviewed in the United States on February 26, 2008
After scanning through and thinking about the works of Marcus Aurilius, another philosopher came to mind, the 19th century lecturer, essayist and Trancendentalist, R.W. Emerson. There are certainly connections between these two great thinkers', however the space provided here is limited and therefore would be a disservice. This particular edition of The Portable Emerson is full of gems, including essays on "The American Scholar", "History" and my particular favourite, excerpts from his journals a letters.

Emerson was a prolific journal writer, where can be found the seeds to his insight into life and the plight of the human being.

Many years ago I read,  Emerson: The Mind on Fire (Centennial Books)  by Robert D. Richardson JR., a true masterpiece in the genre of biography and a labour of love. It is in this bioraphy one can capture Emerson's mind and great heart. (More than likely my favourite biography of all time.)

This volume, (A Portable Emerson) is filled with essays, poems and lectures that reveals a man who incessantly sought the truth, and attempted and succeeded through his many lectures across the eastern American coast.

Evidently he was a persuasive lecturer motivating thousands of Americans -which is a true gift.

One of my favourite quotes from this volume:

"Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you."

A man who loved the world and contributed to its betterment.
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
I Like a good read!
5.0 out of 5 stars JOY!
Reviewed in the United States on March 23, 2001
Every Emerson volume is 'a good read'. Unlike some other readers, I love English Traits, maybe because I am English. Emerson is a joy, everyone should read him, at least once.
3 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report

Top reviews from other countries

Ingmar Bergman’s bastard son
3.0 out of 5 stars Publishers, o publishers…
Reviewed in Germany on March 26, 2024
Verified Purchase
The cover looks and feels nice. The book is very handy and has a comprehensive selection of Emerson’s writings to offer. But the paper quality is not as good as in the old penguin books, and the paper is a little thicker and blank white (it was printed in Poland). The font is big enough but also not evenly dark-printed. For this price, it is okay, but it is also somewhat disappointing that publishers are saving money wherever they can.
Report
Milazzo
4.0 out of 5 stars Immortal Emerson
Reviewed in Italy on September 9, 2021
Verified Purchase
Emerson is always worth reading, despite his long-winded sentences typical of the period he lived in. Often one has to be patient, stop and reread what has just been said which has a tendency to get lost when so much is crowded in a very long period. However, much of his outlook, of what he insists on, is still perfectly valid nowadays and even if you dont agree totally with his views on society, on reading, on human relationships, they are always highly stimulating.
Penguin has unfortunately tried to cram as much text as possible in one fat portable volume, but I think it would have been better to suppress one or two of the less interesting texts and print less crowded pages which are always more pleasant to read. As it is, the compact text is not attractive and one finds it difficult to insert a few personal notes in the very narrow margins. This is why I only give four stars to this most interesting book.
Report
Nivedita Sood
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book!
Reviewed in India on June 9, 2021
Verified Purchase
A very profound collection of the author’s work
Report
Jo Rowe
5.0 out of 5 stars An amazing book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 22, 2015
Verified Purchase
I am delighted with this purchase. The quality of the paper and the print is extremely good and the content seems very complete. I have only recently become aware of RWE and having just briefly flicked through, found something relevant on every page. It would definitely be my "Desert Island" book choice. I am looking forward to many hours perusing the thoughts and writings within this book.
5 people found this helpful
 Report
Report an issue

Does this item contain inappropriate content?
Report
Do you believe that this item violates a copyright?
Report
Does this item contain quality or formatting issues?
Report