Source: Kenneth Walter Cameron, Ralph Waldo Emerson's Reading (Raleigh, NC: The Thistle Press, 1941)
Emerson's borrowing and request records trace his reading practices over time, above all through the Boston Athenaeum, with additional use of Harvard College Library and, more occasionally, Harvard Divinity School Library. The entries highlighted here focus on books that intersect with the cabinet's mystical, philosophical, and comparative-religious terrain: classical philosophy, biblical and patristic traditions, Neoplatonism, contemplative and visionary literature, Protestant spirituality, and works connected to Hindu, Persian, and other non-Western traditions.
| Author | Title | Publication | Source | Reading Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before the Dial (1842 and earlier) | ||||
| Henry More | Divine DialoguesDisquisitions on the attributes of God and his Providence. | London, 1668 | Boston Athenaeum | — |
| Richard Lucas | Practical Christianity | London, 1708 (6th ed.) | Boston Athenaeum | — |
| Pindar | Carmina et Fragmenta (ed. C. G. Heyne) | Oxford, 1807 (2 vols.) | Boston Athenaeum | — |
| Isaac Barrow | Theological Works (ed. Tillotson)Borrowed 1824. Sermons and theological treatises. | London, 1716 (3 vols. in 2) | Harvard College Library | 1824 |
| François Fénelon | Œuvres de Fenelon; Œuvres SpirituellesBorrowed 1825. | Paris, 1787–1792; Paris, 1752 | Harvard College Library | 1825 |
| August Tholuck | Blüthensämmlung aus der morgenländischen Mystik | Berlin, 1825 | Boston Athenaeum | — |
| Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz | Essais de TheodicéeBorrowed 1825. Philosophical theology and theodicy. | Amsterdam, 1710 | Harvard College Library | 1825 |
| Isaac Newton | The Chronology of Antient Kingdoms AmendedBorrowed 1825. | Dublin, 1728 | Harvard College Library | 1825 |
| Marcus Aurelius | Meditations (tr. Jeremy Collier)Borrowed 1826 and again 1829. 1708 ed.; cabinet holds 1534 ed. | London, 1708 (2nd ed.) | Harvard College Library | 1826, 1829 |
| Samuel Taylor Coleridge | Biographia LiterariaBorrowed 1826. | New York, 1817 (2 vols. in 1) | Harvard College Library | 1826 |
| Francis Bacon | Works (with life by Mallet)Borrowed 1826. | London, 1807 (12 vols.) | Harvard College Library | 1826 |
| Plato (Thomas Taylor trans.) | The Works of Plato (55 dialogues & 12 epistles)Borrowed repeatedly: 1826–1829 (HCL), then 1830, 1831, 1836, 1839, 1842, 1845 (BA). Taylor's complete Plato with Greek manuscript commentaries. | London, 1804 (5 vols.) | Boston Athenaeum; Harvard College Library | 1826–1845 |
| Plutarch (Amyot trans.) | Œuvres de PlutarqueBorrowed 1826, 1827, 1828. French translation with notes by Brotier. | Paris, 1783–1787 (22 vols.) | Harvard College Library | 1826–1828 |
| Jeremy Taylor | The Whole Works of the Right Rev. Jeremy TaylorBorrowed 1827–32. Anglican devotional mysticism. | London, 1822 (15 vols.) | Harvard College Library | 1827–1832 |
| Volney (Constantin François Chassebœuf) | The Ruins: or, A Survey of the Revolutions of EmpiresBorrowed 1828 (HCL), 1845, 1865, 1867, 1868 (BA). Survey of ancient religions and their decline. | London, 1804 (12th ed.) | Boston Athenaeum; Harvard College Library | 1828–1868 |
| Johann Gottfried von Herder | Outlines of a Philosophy of the History of Man (tr. T. Churchill)Borrowed 1829 (HCL), 1831 (BA). | London, 1803 (2 vols.) | Boston Athenaeum; Harvard College Library | 1829, 1831 |
| Sir Thomas Browne | Certain Miscellany TractsBorrowed 1830. | Edinburgh, 1822 (new ed.) | Boston Athenaeum | 1830 |
| Samuel Taylor Coleridge | Sibylline LeavesBorrowed 1830. | London, 1817 | Boston Athenaeum | 1830 |
| Aristophanes (tr. Thomas Mitchell) | ComediesBorrowed 1836. Also borrowed the Brunck Latin edition (Oxford, 1810) in 1830. | London, 1820–1822 (2 vols.) | Boston Athenaeum | 1830, 1836 |
| John Balguy | A Collection of Tracts, Moral and TheologicalBorrowed 1830. Moral philosophy and natural theology. | London, 1734 | Harvard College Library | 1830 |
| Sir Thomas Browne | Religio MediciBorrowed 1831. | London (8th ed.) | Boston Athenaeum | 1831 |
| Richard Baxter | Knowledge and Love ComparedBorrowed 1831. Puritan devotional theology — contemplative tradition. | London, 1689 | Harvard College Library | 1831 |
| Jacob Bryant | The Sentiments of Philo Judæus concerning the LogosBorrowed 1832. On the Logos doctrine in Hellenistic Judaism. | Cambridge (Eng.), 1797 | Boston Athenaeum | 1832 |
| William Penn | Select WorksBorrowed 1832. Quaker inner-light theology and spiritual writings. | London, 1782 (3 vols.) | Harvard College Library | 1832 |
| Thomas Stanley | History of Philosophy1701 ed.; cabinet holds 1700 ed. | London, 1701 (3rd ed.) | Boston Athenaeum | 1834 |
| Samuel Taylor Coleridge | On the Constitution of the Church and StateBorrowed 1834. | London, 1830 | Boston Athenaeum | 1834 |
| Dante Alighieri (tr. Henry Francis Cary) | Vision of Hell, Purgatory, and ParadiseBorrowed 1834, 1851. Visionary cosmography of the afterlife. | London, 1819 (3 vols.) | Boston Athenaeum | 1834, 1851 |
| Peter Bulkley | The Gospel-Covenant; or, the Covenant of Grace OpenedBorrowed 1834. New England covenant theology — spiritual compact. | London, 1651 (2nd ed.) | Harvard College Library | 1834 |
| Robert Barclay | Apology for the True Christian DivinityBorrowed 1835. | Edition unknown | Boston Athenaeum | 1835 |
| William Hone | Ancient Mysteries DescribedBorrowed 1835. Medieval mystery plays and ritual performance. | London, 1823 | Harvard College Library | 1835 |
| Thomas Clarkson | A Portraiture of QuakerismBorrowed 1835. Quaker customs, moral discipline, and inner-light practice. | New York, 1806 (3 vols.) | Harvard College Library | 1835 |
| Confucius (Marshman trans.) | Works of ConfuciusBorrowed 1836. Contains the Lun-yu with original text, translation, and dissertation on the Chinese language. | Serampore, 1809 (vol. 1) | Boston Athenaeum | 1836 |
| Aristotle (tr. John Gillies) | Ethics and PoliticsBorrowed 1836. Vol. 2: Politics. | London, 1813 (3rd ed., 2 vols.) | Boston Athenaeum | 1836 |
| Zoroaster (Anquetil du Perron trans.) | Zend-AvestaBorrowed 1836. | Paris, 1771 (2 vols. in 3) | Boston Athenaeum | 1836 |
| Novalis (Friedrich von Hardenberg) | Henry of Ofterdingen; Novalis SchriftenBorrowed 1836 and 1851. | Cambridge, Mass., 1842; Berlin, 1826 | Boston Athenaeum | 1836, 1851 |
| Aeschylus (tr. Robert Potter) | TragediesBorrowed 1837. | London, 1819 | Boston Athenaeum | 1837 |
| Mahāwanso (Mahānāma, tr. Turnour) | The Mahawanso, in Roman Characters, with TranslationBuddhist chronicle of Ceylon. | Ceylon, 1837 (vol. 1) | Cameron, item 409 | — |
| Sir William Jones | WorksBorrowed 1840. | London, 1799 (6 vols.) | Boston Athenaeum | 1840 |
| Jacob Bryant | A New System, or, An Analysis of Ancient MythologyBorrowed 1840. Syncretic study of ancient religions, mythological systems, and the diffusion of sacred knowledge. | London, 1807 (3rd ed., 6 vols.) | Boston Athenaeum | 1840 |
| Simon Ockley | The Conquest of Syria, Persia and Ægypt by the SaracensBorrowed 1840, 1842. History of the early Islamic conquests. | London, 1708–1718 (2 vols.) | Boston Athenaeum | 1840, 1842 |
| Edward Davies | The Mythology and Rites of the British DruidsBorrowed 1840. Ancient British religion and druidic rites. | London, 1809 | Boston Athenaeum | 1840 |
| Plato (Thomas Taylor trans.) | The Works of PlatoContinued borrowing post-cabinet: 1842, 1845. | London, 1804 (5 vols.) | Boston Athenaeum | 1842, 1845 |
| After the Dial (1843–) | ||||
| Aleksander Chodzko | Specimens of the Popular Poetry of PersiaBorrowed 1846, 1847. | London, 1842 (Oriental Translation Fund) | Harvard College Library | 1846, 1847 |
| Firdausi (Atkinson trans.) | The Shah Nameh of the Persian PoetBorrowed 1846, 1847. | London, 1832 (Oriental Translation Fund) | Harvard College Library | 1846, 1847 |
| Edward Upham | The History and Doctrine of BudhismBorrowed 1846. With notices of demon worship and planetary incantations of Ceylon. | London, 1829 | Harvard College Library | 1846 |
| Saadi (Ross trans.) | The Gulistan, or Flower GardenBorrowed 1846 (HCL), 1862 (BA). | London, 1823 | Boston Athenaeum; Harvard College Library | 1846, 1862 |
| Plato (Schleiermacher ed.) | Platons WerkeBorrowed 1846. Schleiermacher's critical German edition. | Berlin, 1804–1809 (5 vols.) | Harvard College Library | 1846 |
| William Ward | Account of the Writings, Religion, and Manners of the HindoosBorrowed 1847. | Serampore, 1811 (4 vols.) | Harvard College Library | 1847 |
| Paul Henri Mallet | Northern Antiquities (incl. the Edda)Borrowed multiple times. Norse mythology and Scandinavian religion. | London (Bohn), 1847 (2 vols.) | Harvard College Library | — |
| Friedrich Schleiermacher | Introductions to the Dialogues of Plato (tr. William Dobson)Borrowed 1848. Critical framework for reading Plato. | Cambridge and London, 1836 | Harvard College Library | 1848 |
| John Evelyn | Diary and CorrespondenceBorrowed 1851, 1854. Ed. from original MSS by William Bray. | London, 1850–1852 (4 vols.) | Boston Athenaeum | 1851, 1854 |
| James Augustus St. John | The History of the Manners and Customs of Ancient GreeceBorrowed 1851. Also owned (Harding). | London, 1842 (3 vols.) | Boston Athenaeum | 1851 |
| John Evelyn | The Miscellaneous Writings of John EvelynBorrowed 1854. Collected by W. Upcott. | London, 1825 | Boston Athenaeum | 1854 |
| Horace Hayman Wilson | Rig-Veda-SanhitáBorrowed 1855, 1860, 1866. | London, 1850–1866 (4 vols.) | Boston Athenaeum | 1855–1866 |
| Blaise Pascal | Des Pensées de PascalRequested 1855. | Victor Cousin edition, 1843 | Requested from Boston Athenaeum | 1855 |
| Hesiod (tr. J. Banks) | Works of Hesiod, Callimachus and Theognis | London (Bohn), 1856 | Boston Athenaeum | — |
| Francis Bacon | Works (ed. Spedding, Ellis & Heath)Borrowed 1857. | London, 1857 (7 vols.) | Boston Athenaeum | 1857 |
| Thomas Taylor (trans.) | Select Works of PorphyryRequested 1857. Exact match to cabinet title. | London, 1823 | Requested from Boston Athenaeum | 1857 |
| Plutarch (English trans.) | MoralsRequested 1857. Cabinet holds Morals, 1694 ed. | London, 1718 (5 vols.) | Requested from Boston Athenaeum | 1857 |
| Thomas Taylor (trans.) | Select Works of PlotinusRequested 1857. | London, 1817 | Requested from Boston Athenaeum | 1857 |
| Thomas Taylor (trans.) | Iamblichus' Life of PythagorasRequested 1857. | London, 1818 | Requested from Boston Athenaeum | 1857 |
| Thomas Taylor (trans.) | Iamblichus on the MysteriesRequested 1857. | London, 1821 | Requested from Boston Athenaeum | 1857 |
| Upanishads (tr. Roer, Bibliotheca Indica) | UpanishadsRequested 1857. Sanskrit philosophical texts. | Calcutta (Bibliotheca Indica, vol. XV) | Requested from Boston Athenaeum | 1857 |
| Anna Letitia Waring | Hymns and MeditationsBorrowed 1858. Devotional poetry and contemplative verse. | London, 1854 (5th ed.) | Boston Athenaeum | 1858 |
| Max Mueller | History of Ancient Sanskrit LiteratureBorrowed 1861, 1868. | London, 1860 (2nd ed.) | Boston Athenaeum | 1861, 1868 |
| Rumi (Rosenzweig trans.) | Auswahl aus den Diwanen des grössten mystischen Dichters PersiensBorrowed 1861. | Vienna, 1838 | Boston Athenaeum | 1861 |
| Max Mueller | Lectures on the Science of LanguageBorrowed 1862, 1867. | London, 1861–1864 (1st and 2nd series, 2 vols.) | Boston Athenaeum | 1862, 1867 |
| Hafiz (Daumer trans.) | Hafis: Eine Sammlung persischer GedichteBorrowed 1862. | Hamburg, 1856 (2nd ed.) | Boston Athenaeum | 1862 |
| Saadi (Eastwick trans.) | The Gulistan, or Flower GardenBorrowed 1862, 1863. | Hertford, 1852 | Boston Athenaeum | 1862, 1863 |
| James Legge | The Chinese Classics: Works of Mencius | London, 1862–1865 | Boston Athenaeum | — |
| Ludwig Preller | Römische MythologieBorrowed 1862. Roman sacred mythology and religious symbolism. | Berlin, 1858 | Boston Athenaeum | 1862 |
| Saadi (Graf trans.) | Lustgarten; RosengartenBorrowed 1863 (Lustgarten), 1864 (Rosengarten). | Jena, 1850; Leipzig, 1846 | Boston Athenaeum | 1863, 1864 |
| Johann Gottlieb Fichte | The Popular Works of Johann Gottlieb FichteBorrowed 1863. Translated with memoir by William Smith. | London, 1848–1849 (2 vols.) | Boston Athenaeum | 1863 |
| Jean Chardin | Voyages du chevalier Chardin en PerseBorrowed 1863. Persian religion, Sufi and Zoroastrian culture. | Paris, 1811 (10 vols.) | Boston Athenaeum | 1863 |
| Alexander Gilchrist | Life of William Blake, 'Pictor Ignotus'Borrowed 1863. Blake as visionary mystic and artist. | London, 1863 (2 vols.) | Boston Athenaeum | 1863 |
| Confucius (Marshman trans.) | Works of ConfuciusBorrowed again 1865. | Serampore, 1809 | Boston Athenaeum | 1865 |
| Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel | Lectures on the Philosophy of History (tr. J. Sibree)Borrowed 1865. | London (Bohn), 1857 | Boston Athenaeum | 1865 |
| Johann Georg Adam Forster | Sämmtliche SchriftenBorrowed 1866. Natural philosopher and ethnographer of the South Seas. | Leipzig, 1843 (9 vols.) | Boston Athenaeum | 1866 |
| George Small | A Handbook of Sanskrit Literature | London, 1866 | Boston Athenaeum | — |
| Christian Carl Josias von Bunsen | Egypt's Place in Universal History (tr. Cottrell)Borrowed 1866. | London, 1848–1867 (5 vols.) | Boston Athenaeum | 1866 |
| Sir John Gardner Wilkinson | The Egyptians in the Time of the PharaohsBorrowed 1866. Also owned A Popular Account of the Ancient Egyptians (1854). | London, 1857 | Boston Athenaeum | 1866 |
| John Ruskin | The Ethics of the Dust: Ten Lectures to Little HousewivesBorrowed 1866. Crystallography as spiritual allegory. | New York, 1866 | Boston Athenaeum | 1866 |
| Francis Bacon | Bacon's Essays (annotations by Richard Whately)Borrowed 1867. | London, 1856 | Boston Athenaeum | 1867 |
| William White | Emanuel Swedenborg: His Life and WritingsBorrowed 1867. | London, 1867 (2 vols.) | Boston Athenaeum | 1867 |
| James Talboys Wheeler | The History of India from the Earliest AgesBorrowed 1867. | London, 1867–1876 (4 vols.) | Boston Athenaeum | 1867 |
| John Ruskin | The Queen of the Air: A Study of the Greek Myths of Cloud and StormBorrowed 1870. Greek mythology interpreted through natural philosophy. | London, 1869 | Boston Athenaeum | 1870 |
| Max Mueller | Lectures on the Science of Religion; with a translation of the DhammapadaBorrowed 1872. Contains the 'Path of Virtue' — Buddhist canonical text. | New York, 1872 | Boston Athenaeum | 1872 |
| William Bridgman (trans.) | Paraphrase on the Nicomachean Ethics of Aristotle (Andronicus Rhodius) | London, 1807 | Greaves Library → Emerson → Concord Free Public Library | by 1873 |
| Proclus (Thomas Taylor trans.) | Commentaries on the Timaeus of Plato, in Five Books | London, 1820 (2 vols.) | Greaves Library → Emerson → Concord Free Public Library | by 1873 |
| Proclus (Thomas Taylor trans.) | Six Books on the Theology of Plato | London, 1816 (2 vols.) | Greaves Library → Emerson → Concord Free Public Library | by 1873 |
| Thomas Taylor | Dissertation on the Philosophy of Aristotle | London, 1820 | Greaves Library → Emerson → Concord Free Public Library | by 1873 |
Cameron, Kenneth Walter. Ralph Waldo Emerson's Reading: A Guide for Source-Hunters and Scholars to the One Thousand Volumes Which Ralph Waldo Emerson Drew from Libraries Together with Some Unpublished Letters and a Supplementary List of Books and Periodicals in Ralph Waldo Emerson's Library at the Time of His Death. Raleigh, NC: The Thistle Press, 1941.