Read complete books and articles on: Henry David Thoreau

Thoreau, Henry David - thôrˈō, thərōˈ, 1817–62, American author and naturalist, b. Concord, Mass., grad. Harvard, 1837. Thoreau is considered one of the most influential figures in American thought and literature. A supreme individualist, he championed the human spirit against materialism and social conformity. His most famous book, Walden (1854), is an eloquent account of his experiment in near-solitary living in close harmony with nature; it is also an expression of his transcendentalist philosophy (see transcendentalism).

Thoreau grew up in Concord and attended Harvard, where he was known as a serious though unconventional scholar. During his Harvard years he was exposed to the writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson, who later became his chief mentor and friend. After graduation, Thoreau worked for a time in his father's pencil shop and taught at a grammar school, but in 1841 he was invited to live in the Emerson household, where he remained intermittently until 1843. He served as handyman and assistant to Emerson, helping to edit and contributing poetry and prose to the transcendentalist magazine, The Dial.

In 1845 Thoreau built himself a small cabin on the shore of Walden Pond, near Concord; there he remained for more than two years, "living deep and sucking out all the marrow of life." Wishing to lead a life free of materialistic pursuits, he supported himself by growing vegetables and by surveying and doing odd jobs in the nearby village. He devoted most of his time to observing nature, reading, and writing, and he kept a detailed journal of his observations, activities, and thoughts. It was from this journal that he later distilled his masterpiece, Walden. The journal, begun in 1837, was also the source of his first book, A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers (1849), as well as of his posthumously published Excursions (1863), The Maine Woods (1864), Cape Cod (1865), and A Yankee in Canada (1866).

One of Thoreau's most important works, the essay "Civil Disobedience" (1849), grew out of an overnight stay in prison as a result of his conscientious refusal to pay a poll tax that supported the Mexican War, which to Thoreau represented an effort to extend slavery. Thoreau's advocacy of civil disobedience as a means for the individual to protest those actions of his government that he considers unjust has had a wide-ranging impact—on the British Labour movement, the passive resistance independence movement led by Gandhi in India, and the nonviolent civil-rights movement led by Martin Luther King in the United States.

Thoreau is also significant as a naturalist who emphasized the dynamic ecology of the natural world. Above all, Thoreau's quiet, one-man revolution in living at Walden has become a symbol of the willed integrity of human beings, their inner freedom, and their ability to build their own lives. Thoreau's writings, including his journals, were published in 20 volumes in 1906.

Bibliography

See his collected poems, ed. by C. Bode (rev. ed. 1964); his letters, ed. by C. Bode and W. Harding (1958, repr. 1974); his journals, ed. by B. Torrey and F. H. Allen (14 vol., 1906, repr. 2 vol., 1963); biographies by H. S. Canby (1939, repr. 1965) and J. W. Krutch (1948, repr. 1973); E. H. Wagenknecht, Henry David Thoreau (1981); R. Lebeaux, Thoreau's Seasons (1984) and Young Man Thoreau (1989); R. D. Richardson, Jr., Henry Thoreau: A Life of the Mind (1986); R. Schneider, Henry David Thoreau (1987); L. Buell, The Environmental Imagination: Thoreau, Nature Writing, and the Formation of American Culture (1995).

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16 of the Best Books and Articles on: Henry David Thoreau

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1.

A Thoreau Handbook » Read Now
by Walter Roy Harding. 236 pgs.

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...219 PREFACE Although Henry David Thoreau was once one of Americas most...B. Sanborns The Life of Henry David Thoreau ; to William Sloane Asso ciates...from Joseph Wood...
2.

A Historical Guide to Henry David Thoreau » Read Now
by William E. Cain. 296 pgs.

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As an essayist, philosopher, ex-pencil manufacturer, notorious hermit, tax protester, and all-around original thinker, Thoreau led so singular a life that he is in some ways a perfect candidate for the historical and biographical treatments made possible by the Historical Guides to American Authors...
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As an essayist, philosopher, ex-pencil manufacturer, notorious hermit, tax protester, and all-around original thinker, Thoreau led so singular a life that he is in some ways a perfect candidate for the historical and biographical treatments made possible by the Historical Guides to American Authors series format. William E. Cain, the volume editor, includes contributions on his relationship with 19th century authority and concepts of the land, which should help the volume's reach beyond those who read Thoreau for illumination to those general readers who love him for embodying the spirit of American rebellion.
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3.

The Major Essays of Henry David Thoreau » Read Now
by Henry David Thoreau, Richard Dillman. 284 pgs.

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This is the only current work where you'll find all of Thoreau's major essays in one volume. Includes Thoreau's "reform" essays, "walking" essays and his "natural history" essays.
4.

Walden and Other Writings of Henry David Thoreau » Read Now
by Henry David Thoreau. 744 pgs.

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...and Other Writings By HENRY DAVID THOREAU Edited, with an INTRODUCTION...BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE The Writings of Henry David Thoreau New York and Boston...XVI 1944 , 99-109;...
5.

Henry David Thoreau's Walden (Literary Criticism) » Read Now
by Harold Bloom. 144 pgs.

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-- Presents the most important 20th-century criticism on major works from The Odyssey through modern literature
-- The critical essays reflect a variety of schools of criticism
-- Contains critical biographies, notes on the contributing critics, a chronology of the author's life, and an index
6.

Barron's Simplified Approach to Thoreau's Walden » Read Now
by Robert L. Gale. 152 pgs.

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...1958 "The Correspond ence of Henry David Thoreau" THOREAUS LIFE Henry David Thoreau, 1817-62, was the only one of the many...1910 ; Bartholow V. Crawford, ed., Henry David...
7.

Walden Revisited: A Centennial Tribute to Henry David Thoreau » Read Now
by George F. Whicher. 93 pgs.

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...A Centennial Tribute to Henry David Thoreau By GEORGE F. WHICHER...Passages from the Journal of Henry David Thoreau , edited by Bradford Torrey...uncelebrated and almost...
8.

After Walden: Thoreau's Changing Views on Economic Man » Read Now
by Leo Stoller, Henry David Thoreau. 163 pgs.

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...not applied to life?" HENRY DAVID THOREAU STANFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS...form are to The Writings of Henry David Thoreau 20 vols., Boston and New...this visit in The Life of...
9.

Thoreau: A Century of Criticism » Read Now
by Walter Roy Harding. 214 pgs.

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...criticism of the writings of Henry David Thoreau that have appeared in the...to Waldo Frank, for " Henry David Thoreau 1817-1917 "; to the Sewanee...to Three Essays by...
10.

Thoreau, Man of Concord » Read Now
by Walter Harding. 254 pgs.

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...PEOPLE SELDOM REACT TO Henry David Thoreau mildly. For a century his...F. B. Sanborn, "Henry David Thoreau" 53 Amos...Note-Book" 114 Henry David Thoreau, Journal 115...
11.

My Friend, My Friend: The Story of Thoreau's Relationship with Emerson » Read Now
by Harmon Smith. 220 pgs.

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Henry David Thoreau was a twenty-year-old scholarship student at Harvard when he met Ralph Waldo Emerson in 1837. Emerson, fourteen years Thoreau's senior and independently wealthy, had recently shaken the intellectual world of New England with the publication of Nature. Despite the disparity in...
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Henry David Thoreau was a twenty-year-old scholarship student at Harvard when he met Ralph Waldo Emerson in 1837. Emerson, fourteen years Thoreau's senior and independently wealthy, had recently shaken the intellectual world of New England with the publication of Nature. Despite the disparity in their circumstances, Thoreau and Emerson quickly formed a close relationship that lasted until Thoreau's death at the age of forty-four.
This book tells the story of their friendship. Harmon Smith emphasizes their personal bond, but also shows how their relationship affected their thought and writing and was in turn influenced by their careers.
Without Emerson's interest and support, it is unlikely that Thoreau could have expended the energy on writing that enabled him to achieve greatness. By inviting Thoreau into his home to live during two different periods in the 1840s, Emerson effectively made Thoreau "one of the family". He provided him with work, lent him money, and allowed him to build a cabinon the shore of Walden Pond. Emerson also broadened Thoreau's horizon immeasurably by introducing him to an ever-widening circle of friends and colleagues.
Although the bond between Thoreau and Emerson was strong, their needs were often greatly at variance. While this led to a prolonged period of estrangement between them, they were ultimately able to reconcile their differences. Many years after Thoreau died, Emerson could look back over his long life and say that Henry had been his best friend.
Since the thoughts and feelings of the two men are so well documented in their journals and letters, Smith is able to trace the pattern of their emotional involvement in great detail. What emergesis both a remarkable portrait of their relationship and an intimate look at the nature of friendship itself.
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12.

Thoreau in the Human Community » Read Now
by Mary Elkins Moller. 227 pgs.

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13.

The Heart of Thoreau's Journals » Read Now
by Henry David Thoreau, Odell Shepard. 352 pgs.

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...characteristically our own we are not likely to discover anything more racy and indigenous than this life-work of Henry David Thoreau. It is true that he was a man first...
14.

Nature's Extra-Vagrants: Frost and Thoreau in the Maine Woods, in Papers on Language & Literature » Read Now
by Eric Carl Link. 16 pgs.

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...Link The connection between Robert Frost and Henry David Thoreau has been observed by several critics. Frost himself...Early Years 1874-1915. New York: Holt, 1966. Thoreau...
15.

Comedy, Cruelty, and Tourism: Thoreau's Cape Cod, in American Scholar » Read Now
by Robert Pinsky. 10 pgs.

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16.

Winter Tracings and Transcendental Leaps: Henry Thoreau's Skating, in Papers on Language & Literature » Read Now
by Ian Marshall. 16 pgs.

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...accounts in the journal of Henry David Thoreau and in letters from Sophia...Norman: U of Oklahoma P, 1989. Thoreau, Henry David. Excursions and Poems. Vol. 5 of The...