Nature (version 2): Free Audiobook and Listening Guide

Nature (version 2), credited to Ralph Waldo Emerson, is available as a LibriVox volunteer audiobook. This guide identifies the recording, its source summary and its audio tracks.

About the work

The LibriVox catalogue summary, preserved with the recording, reads:

LibriVox recording of Nature (version 2) by Ralph Waldo Emerson. Read in English by Jesse Zuba First published anonymously in 1836, Nature marks the beginning both of Emerson’s literary career and the Transcendentalist movement. Asking why his generation “should not also enjoy an original relation to the universe,” Emerson argues that “Man is a god in ruins” who might yet be redeemed by the renewal of harmony with nature. Encompassing themes that would preoccupy him for years to come, including the repressive force of social routine, the divinity of nature, and the creative potential of the individual, Nature reflected recent developments in European philosophy and literature even as it pushed American artists to break new ground. The book’s initial reception was mixed, but it influenced members of Emerson’s circle, including such luminaries as Henry David Thoreau and Margaret Fuller, and it would go on to inspire the work of writers ranging from Walt Whitman and Friedrich Nietzsche to Robert Frost and Ralph Ellison. - Summary by Jesse Zuba

Recording facts

• Recording title: Nature (version 2)
• Author credits: Ralph Waldo Emerson
• Language: English
• Original MP3 tracks: 9
• Listed recording duration: 1:47:59

Catalogue topics

• language
• society
• transcendentalism
• beauty
• discipline
• spirit
• idealism
• solitude

Track guide

1. 00 - Introduction — 4:31
2. 01 - Chapter I - Nature — 6:46
3. 02 - Chapter II - Commodity — 3:51
4. 03 - Chapter III - Beauty — 14:25
5. 04 - Chapter IV - Language — 16:24
6. 05 - Chapter V - Discipline — 17:02
7. 06 - Chapter VI - Idealism — 20:24
8. 07 - Chapter VII - Spirit — 7:22
9. 08 - Chapter VIII - Prospects — 17:14

Listen to this recording

Open the complete recording and player on Internet Archive. The player includes the full track list and available download formats.

Source and rights

This is a record from LibriVox's official Internet Archive collection, with a public-domain licence recorded in its metadata. LibriVox's policy includes its catalogue summaries as well as its recordings. Its public-domain assessment follows United States law; copyright status can differ elsewhere. The summary and track facts are reproduced and reformatted from that record. Dates attached to the archive upload are not treated as original book publication dates.