Henry David Thoreau – Walden

Henry David Thoreau – Walden
First Edition

A Highlight of American Renaissance Thought

Thoreau, Henry David. WALDEN, Or, Life In the Woods (Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1854) First edition, first state of the text, earliest state of the ads. Illustrated with the map of Walden Pond printed on a separate leaf and inserted at p. 306 8vo, publisher's original brown cloth lettered in gilt and ruled in blind on spine, bordered and decorated in blind on all covers. Housed in a fold-over morocco backed case. 357, [8 ads (dated April 1854)]. A very nice, very handsome copy indeed, internally quite pleasing with a bit of the usual spotting typical to the paper of the period, the binding very expertly and unobtrusively refreshed at the spine panel.

HIGHLY IMPORTANT FIRST EDITION OF A SEMINAL WORK IN AMERICAN LITERATURE. WALDEN has taken its place as one of the most important pieces of American literature and a highlight of American thought. In attempting an experiment in simple living Thoreau became the embodiment of the American quest for the spiritual over the material; and his book, ostensibly a simple record of his experiment, has earned the reputation as a work of great philosophical import. Grolier 100