It’s the 200th anniversary of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s birth. John Updike notes that Emerson is much honored, but less often read these days. “Emerson, with a cobbled-together mythology, in melodious accents that sincerely feigned the old Christian reassurances, sought to instill confidence and courage in his democratic audience, and it is for this, rather than for his mellowed powers of observation and wit, that he is honored, if honored more than read.”