Sermons by the Rev. Mr. Emerson

Emerson was a manuscript preacher who saved his old sermons and reused many of them. He also kept a preaching record, giving each of his sermons a number (and, in only a few exceptional cases, a title) and recording where and when he preached each one of them. Some sermons he only used once, most he used a few times, some more than 15 times, and one sermon (no. X) he actually gave 27 times! Almost all of his sermon manuscripts survive and can be found at the Houghton Library, Harvard University. (See appendix materials for a complete listing of Emerson’s sermon manuscript numbers and the corresponding Houghton Library numbers.)

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Welcome to emersonsermons.com

Ralph Waldo Emerson, the famous Transcendentalist freethinker and major literary figure, began his public career as a Unitarian minister. This website is dedicated to his years in the ministry.

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