Poetry" is composed chiefly of quotations, Emerson's own remarks being extremely slight and scanty; "Essays and Poems by Jones Very" is a review of the most ordinary type-some thirty lines in length; "Fourierism and the Socialists" with an attractive title is a very disappointing piece, being a long statement from a disciple of Fourier, to which Emerson has prefixed some rather perfunctory remarks; "English Reformers" is a drily official account of certain educational disciples of Alcott, and probably interested somebody at the time: it has no particle of interest now. Speaking generally of the pieces contained in the following pages, one may remark that they range from mere occasional addresses to lengthy and serious essays, some of which, like "Character," for example, are equal to his earliest and best work. In point of time, too, they are coincident with the whole of his literary life, for the earliest piece is dated 1832, and the latest 1882. All the interest and the defects inseparable from such a collection will be found in the papers now presented. Owing to the large amount of new matter included in this edition, it has been found impossible to comprise the whole in four volumes as originally intended. A fifth volume will therefore be added containing Emerson's Poetical Works. G. S. |