The Thoreau Society: Writings of Henry David Thoreau

Writings of Henry David Thoreau

Featured links: The Thoreau Institute, The Thoreau Reader

Read the texts of Thoreau's writings on the Internet:

Books | Essays | Journal | Poetry | Correspondence

Books

A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers (1849)

Walden; or, Life in the Woods (1854)

The Maine Woods (1864)

Cape Cod (1865)

A Yankee in Canada, with Anti-Slavery and Reform Papers (1866)

Essays [see options]

After the Death of John Brown (1860)

Aulus Persius Flaccus (1840)

Autumnal Tints (1862)

Civil Disobedience (1849) [Resistance to Civil Government]

Dark Ages (1843)

Died … Miss Anna Jones (1837)

Herald of Freedom (1844)

Homer. Ossian. Chaucer (1844)

The Landlord (1843)

The Last Days of John Brown

Life without Principle (1854)

Natural History of Massachusetts (1842)

Night and Moonlight (1863)

Paradise (To Be ) Regained

A Plea for Captain John Brown (1860)

The Service

Sir Walter Raleigh

Slavery in Massachusetts (1854)

The Succession of Forest Trees (1860)

Thomas Carlyle and his Works

A Walk to Wachusett (1843)

Walking (1862)

Wendell Phillips before the Concord Lyceum

Wild Apples (1862)

A Winter Walk (1843)

Journal

In PDF format, from the Thoreau Institute

Poetry

In PDF format, from the Thoreau Institute

Correspondence

In PDF format, from the Thoreau Institute

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BOOKS

A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers (1849)

On July 4, 1845, Thoreau retreated to a small house on the northern shore of Walden Pond in order to find the seclusion he needed to write about the river trip he and his brother John took in 1839. Though their excursion lasted two weeks, his retelling in this volume makes it last just seven days. One thousand copies of this book were first printed at Thoreau’s expense by James Munroe and Company in 1849. The book was reviewed in a variety of periodicals, but even Horace Greeley’s front-page article in the New York Tribune wasn’t an overwhelmingly positive recommendation. Four years later, when the publisher wanted to get rid of the unsold stock, Thoreau agreed to take the remainders – all 706 books. He made fun of the situation when he wrote in his journal that he had “a library of nearly nine hundred volumes, over seven hundred of which I wrote myself.” (October 28, 1853)

Read the eight chapters

In PDF format, from the Thoreau Institute

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Walden; or, Life in the Woods (1854)

During Thoreau’s two-year residency in his house at Walden Pond, he finished his manuscript about the 1839 river trip, but he also generated many notes for another book about his experience away from village life. This process seemed to be tougher going than it was for his first book. After progressing through seven drafts, Walden; or, Life in the Woods was finally published by Ticknor & Fields in August 1854. Again, to simplify the recounting, Thoreau condensed the two years into one that proceeded from summer to spring. This time, two thousand copies of his book were printed; and this time, the reviews were much more favorable. Though not a bestseller, the first run of Walden sold out by 1859. Thoreau spent time trying to convince Ticknor & Fields that a second printing would be worthwhile. The publishing company chose to wait until mid-1862 to issue another shipment. By that time, Walden’s author could no longer witness its release. But the title has not been out of print since 1862.

Read the 18 chapters

In HTML format, from the Thoreau Reader

In PDF format, from the Thoreau Institute

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The Maine Woods (1864)

Thoreau made three trips to Maine (1846, 1853, 1857). A serialized essay about his first trip, "Ktaadn," appeared in issues of Union Magazine in 1848. In 1858, James Russell Lowell became the editor of the new Atlantic Monthly, and Thoreau submitted "Chesuncook" to him. The first installment was published in the June 1858 issue. But after the second one was published in July,Henry wrote an angry note to Lowell, who had removed an important sentence in the printed essay. Thoreau considered it "a very mean and cowardly manner" that the editor would delete his rumination of the pine tree: "It is as immortal as I am, and perchance will go to as high a heaven, there to tower above me still." The naturalist vowed never to send another piece to the Atlantic Monthly during his lifetime.

His sister Sophia and Ellery Channing edited the Maine notes into a three-part volume after Thoreau's death in 1862. Ticknor & Fields printed 1,650 copies of the book.

Read the three sections:

In HTML format, from the Thoreau Reader

In PDF format, from the Thoreau Institute

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Cape Cod (1865)

Thoreau made four trips to Cape Cod (1849, 1850, 1855, 1857). Ellery Channing accompanied him on two of those excursions. Channing and Sophia Thoreau edited the Cape Cod notes into one volume after Thoreau’s death. Ticknor & Fields produced 2,040 copies of the book.

Read the ten chapters:

In HTML format, from the Thoreau Reader

In PDF format, from the Thoreau Institute

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A Yankee in Canada, with Anti-Slavery and Reform Papers (1866)

Edited by Sophia Thoreau and Ellery Channing, this volume creates a five-part description of Thoreau’s 1850 trip to Canada, and adds to that excursion ten additional essays. Included here are: "Slavery in Massachusetts," "Prayers" [which was actually written by Ralph Waldo Emerson but contained a Thoreau poem], "Civil Disobedience," "A Plea for Captain John Brown," "Paradise (To Be) Regained," "Herald of Freedom," "Thomas Carlyle and his Works," "Life without Principle," "Wendell Phillips before the Concord Lyceum," and "The Last Days of John Brown." Ticknor & Fields produced 1,546 copies of this book, which is best remembered for publicizing the essay "Civil Disobedience."

Read A Yankee in Canada:

In PDF format, from the Thoreau Institute

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ESSAYS

"After the Death of John Brown" (1860)

Read in PDF format, from the Thoreau Institute

"Aulus Persius Flaccus" (1840)

Read in PDF format, from the Thoreau Institute

"Autumnal Tints" (1862)

Read in PDF format, from the Thoreau Institute

"Civil Disobedience" (1849) ["Resistance to Civil Government"]

Read in HTML format, from the Thoreau Reader