What is the importance of history in Emerson: Essays and Lectures?

While not an object in the usual place, one of the purposes of the book is to put history into perspective. The reason for this is that history holds a powerful place within the human understanding, both individually and on the mass scales. Behaviors that only make sense in some contexts emerge: human behavior during a war might well not be uniform to that which occurs in an atmosphere of complete peace. History is time seen from behind. The purpose of it is contextualization in the hopes that this will facilitate understanding, just as it is possible to tell flour from salt on sight, but it helps if you know what you are dealing with if there is realistic hope of making such a distinction.