An Oration, Delivered before the Literary Societies of Dartmouth College, July 24, 1838

Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1838. First and only printing of Emerson's important early address at Dartmouth, one of 1000 copies, often republished under the title "Literary Ethics." In this speech, Emerson urges young Americans to do more than passively accept the canon of literature they have inherited: "The new man must feel that he is new, and has not come into the world mortgaged to the opinions and usages of Europe, and Asia, and Egypt." He calls upon the Dartmouth students to use the greatness of past writers as a spur to their own independent creativity: "Plato was, and Shakspeare, and Milton, -- three irrefragable facts. Then I dare: I also will essay to be." BAL 5185. Myerson A8.1. A very good copy, unrestored in the original wrappers. Side-stitched octavo, measuring 9 x 5.75 inches: 30, [2]. Original blue wrappers printed in black. Contemporary ownership signature to front wrapper. Light shelfwear, soft vertical crease from folding. Housed in custom slipcase and chemise.