Book contains first two collections of essays, Essays: First Series (1841) and Essays: Second Series (1844), representing the core thinking of Ralph Waldo Emerson.

First Series Includes well-known Essays such as, "Self-Reliance", "Compensation", "Spiritual Laws", "Love", "Friendship", "Prudence", "Heroism", "The Over-Soul", "Circles", "Intellect" and "Art".

Second Series includes essays such as "The Poet", "Experience", "Character", "Manners", "Gifts", "Nature", "Politics", "Nominalist and Realist" and "New England Reformers".