An INCREDIBLE set for the Emersonian or lover of all things transcendentalist.

This is a unique finely bound set of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Essays (first series and second series), published in 1903 by Houghton Mifflin and printed at the Riverside Press. Gorgeous blue crushed morocco leather, raised bands, gilt titles and ruling to spine panels, boards and edges, gilt inner dentelles, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt.

The leather is still in near mint condition after 120 years. The spines are slightly faded due to sun, but still present on the shelf remarkably handsomely. The corners remain sharp, the binding supple. These books are a joy to hold. The pages inside are in excellent condition.

The binding was done by W. Roach, New York, as attested by the binder’s stamp in each book. Another binder’s stamp reads “John Wanamaker”- one can assume they were bound for Wanamaker to sell at one of his thriving Philadelphia department stores.