Display Signed Copies Only Display All Inventory on Abebooks

Available Copies from Independent Booksellers

Emerson, Ralph Waldo.. Letters and Social Aims (First Edition, second/third printing]. James R. Osgood and Company, 1876.

Price: US$35.00 + shipping

Condition: Very Good

Description: This is a VG hardcover first edition, 2nd or 3rd printing in brown cloth binding which is faded to light brown at the spine, gold spine stamping, no DJ. 314 pages, photos on request.

Seller: Reader's Corner, Inc., Raleigh, NC, U.S.A.

EMERSON Ralph Waldo. LETTERS AND SOCIAL AIMS. Boston, James R. Osgood and cie, 1876, in-12 hardcover green cloth, gilt letters, 314 pp.First Edition. First issue: With signature mark letter "N" on p. 209., 1876.

Price: US$40.09 + shipping

Description: Couverture usagée (frottements aux coiffes et coins, décoloration partielle), intérieur en bon état avec des rousseurs éparses, quelques notes au crayon de papier en marge. La 1ere garde et la page de faux-titre sont manquantes (endpaper missing).

Seller: LE SERPENT QUI PENSE, PRECHAC, France

Emerson, Ralph Waldo. Letters and Social Aims.. James R. Good & Co, 1876.

Price: US$45.00 + shipping

Condition: Good

Description: 1876 first edition. Shelf wear to the binding and rubbing to the spine and corners, with the corners slightly rubbed through.; 314 pages

Seller: Orrin Schwab Books, Providence, UT, U.S.A.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo. Letters And Social Aims. James R. Osgood And Company, Boston, 1876.

Price: US$50.00 + shipping

Condition: Very Good

Description: Duodecimo, green cloth, brown coated endpapers, bevelled edges, tips os pine frayed, some spots on lower edge of top cover. The original titles was expected to be "Poetry and Criticism". BAL 5272 says probably the first printed sheets have the signature mark "N" on page 209, as in this copy. [Myerson A34.1.a].

Seller: Thomas J. Joyce And Company, Chicago, IL, U.S.A.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo. Letters and Social Aims (First Edition). James R. Osgood & Co, Boston, 1876.

Price: US$68.75 + shipping

Condition: Good

Description: FIRST EDITION, first printing. Full green cloth with gilt lettering on the spine, moderate wear to the extremities, corners lightly bumped, brown endpapers. Previous owner's name in pencil on the front flyleaf. Not exlibrary. Overall in GOOD condition. Photos available upon request. Size: 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall

Seller: Ziern-Hanon Galleries, Frontenac, MO, U.S.A.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo. Letters and Social Aims. James R. Osgood and Company, Boston, 1876.

Price: US$78.50 + shipping

Condition: Very Good

Description: Slight rubbing at spine edges and corner tips, with one corner having slight wear to the cloth; hinges tight and title bright, while the cloth is clean and there are no internal inscriptions. Scarce in this good condition.

Seller: Bibliodisia Books, IOBA, MWABA, Chicago, IL, U.S.A.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo. LETTERS AND SOCIAL AIMS. James R. Osgood and Company, Boston, 1876.

Price: US$100.00 + shipping

Description: Octavo, [i-iv], [1]-314 pages. In Good condition. Bound in green cloth with gilt text on spine. Boards have fraying and chipping to spine edges, rubbing and bumping to corners, and mild edgewear and shelfwear. Textblock has slight age toning, splitting to gutter between pages 96 and 97, writing in pen on second page, and partial splitting to interior hinges. Shelved Room A. BAL 5272. 1371816. Special Collections.

Seller: Second Story Books, ABAA, Rockville, MD, U.S.A.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo. Letters and Social Aims. James R. Osgood and Company, Boston, 1876.

Price: US$125.00 + shipping

Description: First edition with the "N" signature mark on page 209. BAL states that those with that mark were probably the first printed. 1 vols. 8vo. With essays on Persian poetry, natural resources, immortality, the comic and a diversity of other subjects. BAL 5272; Carroll A. Wilson Catalogue 35 Original bricxk cloth, covers ruled in blind, spine gilt. Some light wera and rubbing, light soiling of text, else an excellent copy First edition with the "N" signature mark on page 209. BAL states that those with that mark were probably the first printed.

Seller: The Old Mill Bookshop, HACKETTSTOWN, NJ, U.S.A.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo. Letters and Social Aims. James R. Osgood and Company, Boston, 1876.

Price: US$130.00 + shipping

Condition: Good

Description: First edition (probable later issue, no "N" mark on p. 209). Octavo. Original terra-cotta gilt and blind stamped cloth; brown coated endpapers, minor edge wear to corners and head of spine. Covers are not bevelled. Short tears to endpapers and traces tape stains. Good. Nicer than it sounds. BAL 5272 Printed by Welch, Bigelow, & Co., Cambridge.

Seller: Houle Rare Books/Autographs/ABAA/PADA, Palm Springs, CA, U.S.A.

EMERSON, Ralph Waldo. Letters and Social Aims. , 1876.

Price: US$137.50 + shipping

Description: EMERSON, Ralph Waldo. Letters and Social Aims. Orig. cloth. Boston: James R. Osgood, 1876. First edition with "N" on p. 209. BAL 5272. A very good copy.

Seller: G.S. MacManus Co., ABAA, Bryn Mawr, PA, U.S.A.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo. Letters and Social Aims. James R. Osgood and Company, Boston, 1876.

Price: US$144.00 + shipping

Condition: Very Good

Description: Light is the first of painters. There is no object so foul that intense light will not make it beautiful. Nature 1836. Ralph Waldo Emerson delivered Thoreau s eulogy and was a pall bearer for Hawthorne and he wrote and wrote and wrote. Letters and Social Aims is a later collection first appearing in 1876. This is a 1st Edition, 1st printing. It shows the hallmark N at page 209. Beveled edge green cloth covered boards, wear just starting at corners, head and tail show a little shelf wear and spine has some small puckering, otherwise very good+, 314 pp. Chocolate end papers, prior researchers pencil notes re BAL and hallmark N. Boston: James R. Osgood and Company, 1876, 1875. Printed by University Press: Welch, Bigelow, & Co. Cambridge

Seller: Douglas Park Media, Brunswick, ME, U.S.A.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo. Letters and social aims. James R. Osgood and Co, Boston, 1876.

Price: US$156.25 + shipping

Description: First edition, 12mo, pp. [4], 314; publisher's maroon cloth with gilt titles on spine; signature mark N on p. 209; rubbing at extremities, dampstains on front board, good and sound overall. BAL 5272 noting that "it is probable that the copies first printed have the signature mark N present on p. 209."

Seller: Rulon-Miller Books (ABAA / ILAB), St. Paul, MN, U.S.A.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo. Letters and Social Aims. James R. Osgood & Co., Boston, 1876.

Price: US$173.00 + shipping

Description: 314 p. BAL 5272. Myerson A34.1a.

Seller: J. Lawton, Booksellers, Readville, MA, U.S.A.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo. Letters and Social Aims. James R. Osgood and Company - Boston, 1876.

Price: US$175.00 + shipping

Condition: Very Good

Description: Original terracotta colored cloth on boards with blind stamped ruling around border of front and back and gilt lettering and publishers device to spine. Small book is mostly tight, square, relatively sharp-cornered and free of major flaws and markings inside and out, other than a crack down the gutter of ffep on the brown endpapers and moderate fading to the titling on spine. This is the First Edition, First Printing with the relevant points of that condition: Signature mark N present on page 209; with "inviolate" and "choices" on page 308 (changed respectively in the second and third printings to "inviolable" and "choice"). "This was the last volume of essay published during Emerson's lifetime. By the 1870s, Emerson had faded and 'gradually slipped into a serene senility in which his mind finally became a calm blank' (OCAL). "A longtime friend, James Elliot Cabot, was enlisted by the family to help put Emerson's literary manuscripts in order and prepare his lectures for delivery and his writings for publication. Cabot and Emerson's daughter Ellen put together a final volume of essays, Letters and Social Aims (1876), some reprinted ('The Comic,' 'Quotation and Originality,' and 'Persian Poetry') and others drawn from Emerson's manuscripts ('Poetry and Imagination,' 'Social Aims,' 'Eloquence,' 'Resources,' 'Progress of Culture,' 'Inspiration,' 'Greatness,' and 'Immortality').

Seller: Barberry Lane Booksellers, Bar Harbor, ME, U.S.A.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo. Letters and Social Aims. James R. Osgood & Co., Boston, 1876.

Price: US$195.00 + shipping

Condition: Very Good

Description: First edition, first state with 'N' printed on the blank boarder of pa ge 209, bound in beveled boards with green cloth and gold spine letter ing. 4 1/2" x 7", 314 pages. A VG+ copy. Tiny rubs to the corners and spine tips. Dust soiling to the edges of the upper page block. Former owner's name and date inked on the second front fly leaf else contents are fine. A solid, clean copy.

Seller: Dearly Departed Books, Alliance, OH, U.S.A.

EMERSON, Ralph Waldo. Letters and Social Aims. James R. Osgood, Boston, 1876.

Price: US$200.00 + shipping

Condition: Very Good

Description: First edition with "N" on page 209. Very good in green cloth with gold stamping on spine, Front hinge just starting, light wear at the spine ends.

Seller: Between the Covers-Rare Books, Inc. ABAA, Gloucester City, NJ, U.S.A.

EMERSON, Ralph Waldo.. Letters and Social Aims.. Boston: James R. Osgood and Company, 1876., 1876.

Price: US$208.49 + shipping

Description: First edition. (one of the earliest copies printed with "N" on p.209). 8vo., orig. rust cloth, (iv), 314pp. Name on title and e/paper, cloth rubbed with a bit of wear to extremities, a very good copy. BAL 5272.

Seller: David Mason Books (ABAC), Toronto, ON, Canada

Ralph Waldo Emerson. Letters and Social Aims. James R. Osgood, Boston, 1876.

Price: US$225.00 + shipping

Condition: Very Good

Description: Green boards with bright gilt lettering on spine. Small indentation on the spine. Corners are all sharp, boards clean. Free of any internal markings. Small "n" present on page 209.

Seller: Sheafe Street Books, Portsmouth, NH, U.S.A.

EMERSON, RALPH WALDO.. Letters and Social Aims. Boston: James R. Osood, 1876, 1876.

Price: US$225.00 + shipping

Description: First Edition; probable first state of page 209. Contemporary owner's signature; faint ring on the front cover; near fine. All books described as first editions are first printings unless otherwise noted.

Seller: Peter L. Stern & Co., Inc, Newton, MA, U.S.A.

EMERSON, RALPH WALDO. Letters and social aims. James R. Osgood & Co, Boston, 1876.

Price: US$343.75 + shipping

Description: First edition, 12mo, pp. [4], 314; signature mark N on p. 209; occasional rubbing at extremities, otherwise a very good copy. BAL 5272 noting that "it is probable that the copies first printed have the signature mark N present on p. 209."

Seller: Rulon-Miller Books (ABAA / ILAB), St. Paul, MN, U.S.A.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo. Letters and Social Aims. James R. Osgood & Co., Boston, 1876.

Price: US$403.00 + shipping

Description: 314 p. BAL 5272 (with N on p. 209) Myerson A34.1a. Very good condition head & foot of spine bumped

Seller: J. Lawton, Booksellers, Readville, MA, U.S.A.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo. Letters and Social Aims. James R. Osgood & Co, E-081, 1876.

Price: US$500.00 + shipping

Condition: Good

Description: Hardcover. 8vo. James R. Osgood and Company, Boston, MA. 1876. Iv, 314 pgs. With laid in cabinet card of Ralph Waldo Emerson present. Cabinet card is ca. 1874. From the studio of Eliphalet J. Foss of Boston, Ma. And from the collection of abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison and with his signature, title, and date in purple ink on verso. First Edition/First Printing. Bound in brick red cloth, stamped in blind with gilt titles present to the spine. Boards rubbed to front cover and spine ends. No ownership marks present. Text is clean and free of marks, binding tight and solid. E-081; 8vo 8" - 9" tall

Seller: Last Exit Books, Charlottesville, VA, U.S.A.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo. Letters and Social Aims. James R. Osgood, Boston, 1876.

Price: US$750.00 + shipping

Condition: Fine

Description: Letters and Social Aims by Ralph Waldo Emersion. First edition in green cloth. Publisher: James R. Osgood, Boston, 1876. 314 pages. First edition with beveled board; printer’s section initial “N” on page 209; and “inviolate & choices” on page 308. Binding is in fine condition. Contents clean and bright, small triangular missing at top corner of ffep. 5 x 7 ¼ inches. BAL 5272. Inventory #23-020. Price: $750.

Seller: Discovery Bay Old Books ABAA, ILAB, Brentwood, CA, U.S.A.

Emerson Ralph Waldo. Letters and Social Aims. James R. Osgood and Co, Boston, 1876.

Price: US$772.50 + shipping

Description: Octavo. First issue with the issue points as stated by BAL. This work contains essays that were originally published early in the 1840s as well as those that were the product of a collaborative effort among Ralph Waldo Emerson, his daughter Ellen Tucker Emerson, his son Edward Waldo Emerson, and his literary executor James Eliot Cabot. Bound in green cloth over beveled boards, spine lettering gilt, brown coated endpapers, previous owner's name dated 1876, housed within a cloth covered chemise and green morocco backed slipcase over green cloth, raised bands with compartments lettered and decorated in gilt, with spot of rubbing to joints and spine ends, near fine.

Seller: Alcuin Books, ABAA/ILAB, Scottsdale, AZ, U.S.A.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo. Letters and Social Aims. James R. Osgood and Company, 1876.

Price: US$788.00 + shipping

Condition: Fine

Description: GORGEOUS RED MOROCCAN LEATHER bound first US edition, first printing in Near Fine condition with first few loose pages that fit back into volume neatly if removed (see photos). 314pp.

Seller: Allen's Rare Books, El Monte, CA, U.S.A.

Ralph Waldo Emerson. LETTERS AND SOCIAL AIMS. James R. Osgood and Company, Boston, 1876.

Price: US$962.45 + shipping

Description: Very Good in boards. Light staining on front panel.

Seller: Rare Book Cellar, Pomona, NY, U.S.A.

EMERSON, RALPH WALDO.. Letters and Social Aims. Boston: James R. Osood, 1876, 1876.

Price: US$8500.00 + shipping

Description: First Edition; BAL's probable earliest state of page 209. Front hinge cracked; some cloth wear; very good. Presentation copy; inscribed by the author near publication day, 'Miss Jerusha A. Gardner/ With respects of/ R. Waldo Emerson/ January, 1876.' All books described as first editions are first printings unless otherwise noted.

Seller: Peter L. Stern & Co., Inc, Newton, MA, U.S.A.

EMERSON Ralph Waldo. Letters and Social Aims. , 1876.

Price: US$11000.00 + shipping

Description: "EMERSON, Ralph Waldo. Letters and Social Aims. Boston: James R. Osgood, 1876 [i.e. 1875]. Octavo, original terracotta cloth. Housed in a half morocco chemise and full morocco slipcase. $11,000.First edition, first printing, association copy, of the last volume of essays published during Emerson's lifetime, bearing the ownership signature of Emerson's neighbor, Jeanie M. LeBrun, and additionally signed for her by Emerson and dated by him in the year of publication, "6 Jan 1876."This was the last volume of essay published during Emerson's lifetime. By the 1870s, Emerson had faded and "gradually slipped into a serene senility in which his mind finally became a calm blank" (OCAL). "A longtime friend, James Elliot Cabot, was enlisted by the family to help put Emerson's literary manuscripts in order and prepare his lectures for delivery and his writings for publication Cabot and Emerson's daughter Ellen put together a final volume of essays, Letters and Social Aims (1876), some reprinted ('The Comic,' 'Quotation and Originality,' and 'Persian Poetry') and others drawn from Emerson's manuscripts ('Poetry and Imagination,' 'Social Aims,' 'Eloquence,' 'Resources,' 'Progress of Culture,' 'Inspiration,' 'Greatness,' and 'Immortality') Emerson died quietly in Concord and was buried at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, close to the graves of the Alcotts, Hawthornes, and Thoreaus" (ANB). First printing, with "N" on page 209 and with "inviolate" and "choices" on page 308 (changed respectively in the second and third printings to "inviolable" and "choice"). Though this work is dated 1876, the first printing took place on December 16, 1875 and was first advertised on Christmas of that year in Publisher's Weekly. Myerson A43.1a. BAL 5272. This copy belonged to and bears the ownership signature of Jean M. LeBrun, a Concord neighbor of the Emersons, as well as the Thoreaus, Alcotts, and Hawthornes. LeBrun's signature is dated Christmas day, just days after publication, suggesting that this book may have been a gift to her—one that she embellished by securing Emerson's signature. LeBrun would later attain her own minor fame for a piece she wrote to the Boston Advertiser in 1883 (later separately published in booklet form) that responded to the 1882 first book-length biography of Thoreau. The biography was written by Frank B. Sanborn, yet another Concord neighbor who worked as a schoolteacher instructing the children of Emerson, Hawthorne, and James. Sanborn also proposed to Emerson's daughter, Edith, who rejected him. In his biography of Thoreau, Sanborn presented an unflattering and ungenerous portrait of Thoreau's mother. Jean LeBrun, in her piece for the Advertiser undertook to defend both Thoreau and his mother posthumously.Interior with only a couple faint stains, light rubbing to extremities of binding. A near-fine copy."

Seller: Bauman Rare Books, Philadelphia, PA, U.S.A.

EMERSON, Ralph Waldo. LETTERS AND SOCIAL AIMS. Osgood, Boston, 1876.

Price: US$25000.00 + shipping

Description: Original terra cotta cloth. BAL 5272: Signature mark N present on page 209; Myerson A34.1.a: correct readings on page 308. Myerson also notes that "Emerson was greatly assisted in compiling this volume by James Elliot Cabot and Ellen Emerson." This copy is INSCRIBED and SIGNED by the author: "J. Elliot Cabot, Esq./His book/R. W. Emerson/14 Dec. 1875." Below the inscription, likely in Cabot's hand, is the following: "This, Miss Ellen Emerson says, was the first copy that came to him from the publisher." Myerson states that 5000 copies were printed 15 December 1875, the same day the book was advertised as being published that day in a Boston newspaper. There are also five pages with comments or corrections in pencil in Cabot's hand as well as notes filling about a third of one of the rear blanks. In addition to his work on this book, Cabot was also a secretary for Emerson as well as a longtime friend and his first biographer. Association copies of this magnitude of Emerson's books are very few and far between. The rear hinge is broken and the front hinge is ready to go with some external splitting there as well. The spine tips are frayed. Good example of one of the finest Emerson Presentation copies extant

Seller: Charles Agvent, est. 1987, ABAA, ILAB, Fleetwood, PA, U.S.A.