Henry David Thoreau
1) Walden
Author
Series
Formats
Description
Henry D. Thoreau (1817–62) was an American author, naturalist, poet, and philosopher. He wrote many essays and books, including Civil Disobedience, Walking, and The Maine Woods, among others. John Updike (1932–2009) was a Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, short story writer, and poet.
One of the most influential and compelling books in American literature, Walden is a vivid account of the years that Henry D. Thoreau spent alone in a secluded...
2) Cape Cod
Author
Series
Formats
Description
Robert Pinsky is Professor of English at Boston University and an editor of the weekly online magazine Slate. He is the author of many books of poetry and literary criticism. He served two terms as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress, 1997-2000.
This new paperback edition of Henry D. Thoreau's compelling account of Cape Cod contains the complete, definitive text of the original. Introduced by American poet...
Author
Formats
Description
Based on a trip with his brother in 1839, "A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers" is an excellent example of Thoreau's talent for naturalistic writing. In exquisite detail Thoreau depicts the nature that surrounds him over the course of his trip. One of only two books to be published during his lifetime, Thoreau began work on "A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers" following his brother's death in 1842, however the work was not fully completed...
4) Walking
Author
Formats
Description
Walking is a lecture by Henry David Thoreau first delivered at the Concord Lyceum on April 23, 1851. It was written between 1851 and 1860, but parts were extracted from his earlier journals. Thoreau read the piece a total of ten times, more than any other of his lectures. "Walking" was first published as an essay in the Atlantic Monthly after his death in 1862. He considered it one of his seminal works, so much so, that he once wrote of the lecture,...
Author
Formats
Description
Posthumously published in 1864, The Maine Woods depicts Henry David Thoreau's experiences in the forests of Maine, and expands on the author's transcendental theories on the relation of humanity to Nature. On Mount Katahdin, he faces a primal, untamed Nature. Katahdin is a place "not even scarred by man, but it was a specimen of what God saw fit to make this world." In Maine he comes in contact with "rocks, trees, wind and solid earth" as though he...
Author
Formats
Description
Nature was a form of religion for naturalist, essayist, and early environmentalist Henry David Thoreau (1817–62). In communing with the natural world, he wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and learn what it had to teach. Toward that end Thoreau built a cabin in the spring of 1845 on the shores of Walden Pond, on land owned by Ralph Waldo Emerson, outside Concord, Massachusetts. There he observed nature, farmed,...
Author
Formats
Description
Penned by American philosopher and transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau, On the Duty of Civil Disobedience examines the role of the individual's conscience in governmental rule. Thoreau argues that individual citizens must not simply be subject to the decisions of government, but should question every political act to ensure that the system remains a tool for justice and morality-a message that continues to resonate powerfully in modern times.
...
8) Excursions
Author
Description
First published in 1863, 'Excursions' is a collection of essays by American transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau. It contains nine essays in total, as well as a biographical sketch of Thoreau by fellow transcendentalist Ralph Waldo Emerson. The essays are: 'Natural History of Massachusetts', 'A Walk to Wachusett', 'The Landlord', 'A Winter Walk', 'The Succession of Forest Trees', 'Walking', 'Autumnal Tints', 'Wild Apples', and 'Night and Moonlight'....
Author
Formats
Description
A Book that Transformed America
Civil Disobedience was Thoreau's first published book and continues to transform American discourse. It is unusual for its symbolism and structure, its criticism of Christian institutions, and its many-layered storytelling.
The ideas presented in this essay have influenced some of the most powerful and influential people in history, including Martin Luther King Jnr, Leo Tolstoy, President John F. Kennedy and Ernest...
Author
Series
Description
Essayist, poet, and philosopher Henry David Thoreau (1817—62) ranks among America's foremost nature writers. The Concord, Massachusetts, native spent most of his life observing the natural world of New England. His thoughts on leading a simple, independent life remain a foundation of modern environmentalism, as captured in Walden, his best-known work.
Canoeing in the Wilderness, the 1857 diary of a two-week sojourn in Maine, chronicles the author's...
11) Wild Apples
Author
Formats
Description
"Wild Apples" is a fascinating and wonderfully-written essay concerning the history and variations of wild apple species by American naturalist Henry David Thoreau. One of Thoreau's major essays, "Wild Apples" perfectly conveys his profound love and appreciation of nature and it's many wonders. Highly recommended for lovers of nature writing and fans of Thoreau's seminal work. Contents include: "The History of the Apple-tree", "The Wild Apple", "The...
Author
Series
Formats
Description
American author, naturalist, and abolitionist, Henry David Thoreau was a principal figure of the 19th century movement of Transcendentalism. Central to the philosophy is a belief that people, who are inherently good, are corrupted by the organized institutions of society and that consequently the best community is one that is built upon on independence and self-reliance. This corrupting influence is discussed in one of Thoreau's most famous essay,...
Author
Series
Description
In the fall of 1850 Henry Thoreau embarked upon an excursion into the French-Canadian province of Quebec, with stops in Montreal and Quebec City. His reactions to the foreign country are mixed and ambivalent: he is critical of Canada's Old World Catholicism, feudalism, and an alien British military presence while most of his references to America and Americans are favorable. But if one looks closely, positive reactions to Canadian society and negative...
Author
Publisher
Duke Classics
Description
One of the most famous non-fiction American books, Walden by Henry David Thoreau is the history of Thoreau's visit to Ralph Waldo Emerson's woodland retreat near Walden Pond. Thoreau, stirred by the philosophy of the transcendentalists, used the sojourn as an experiment in self reliance and minimalism… "so as to "live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not,
...Author
Description
During his two-year residence at Walden Pond, Henry David Thoreau became keenly aware of the natural world that surrounded him. Entries from his journals reflect his soulful, in-depth observations of local wildlife, and his remarks on birds are particularly plentiful and poetic. This book, originally published as Notes on New England Birds in 1910 and edited and arranged by Francis H. Allen, collects Thoreau's thoughts on the various bird species...
Author
Description
"Night and Moonlight" is an 1863 essay by American essayist Henry David Thoreau that explores the moon and its place in literary tradition. Henry David Thoreau (1817—1862) was an American poet, philosopher, and essayist most famous for his book "Walden" and his essay "Civil Disobedience", which advocated disobedience against unjust governments and influenced such notable figures as Mahatma Gandhi, Leo Tolstoy, and Martin Luther King Jr. His corpus...
Author
Description
"This is a delicious evening, when the whole body is one sense, and imbibes delight through every pore. I go and come with a strange liberty in Nature, a part of herself."
Thoreau lived in his Walden camp but two years, 1845-1847, and, as his narrative clearly shows, by no means exiled himself from home and companions. His hermitage was within easy walking distance of Concord, and, though his seclusion meant privacy at times, he was by no means debarred...
Author
Series
Description
"A Choice Outstanding Academic Title of the Year" Robert N. Hudspeth is Research Professor of English at the Claremont Graduate University and professor emeritus of English at the University of Redlands. He is the editor of The Letters of Margaret Fuller and the author of Ellery Channing. Elizabeth Hall Witherell is Editor-in-Chief of The Writings of Henry D. Thoreau. Lihong Xie is Associate Textual Editor of The Writings of Henry D. Thoreau.
This...
Author
Description
One of America's most celebrated naturalists, Thoreau often chose nature over human companionship for comfort. Early Spring in Massachusetts is one of four seasonal volumes culled from his journals and captures the season with Thoreau's keen eye and appreciation for his surroundings.
Author
Description
A compelling travel narrative and a meditation on loss, time, and history, A Week on the Concord and Merrimac Rivers was written three years after the death of Thoreau's brother, John, with whom he made the 1839 river voyage. This account of their journey shares many themes with Thoreau's classic Walden, exploring self-renewal in nature, spirituality, culture, politics, and religion.