The Ralph Emerson Papers (1807-1871) primarily document the professional work of Emerson. The collection is arranged according to the following categories: journal, correspondence, student lecture notes and essays from Yale College and Andover Theological Seminary, lectures, essays, addresses, sermons, publications, and notes on readings. Included in the correspondence are letters to and from his wife, Eliza.
The majority of sermons are in a shorthand system probably devised by Emerson. There is no extant key to the system, although it might be possible to compile a key by analyzing a letter of Emerson to Charles Prentice, November 7, 1829, of which there are two, one in shorthand and one in longhand.