Books

Ticknor and Fields, Boston, 1864, true first edition with the April, 1864 advertisements with the last referring to The Thirteenth Volume. One of 1,650 copies. Thoreau born in 1817, accomplished much during his short life dying at the age of 44. He was an abolitionist, tax resister, a pioneer of civil disobedience and conscientious objection, anarchist, environmentalist and believer in simple living. Today, Thoreau is regarded as one of the foremost American writers, both for the modern clarity of his prose style and the prescience of his views on nature and politics. His memory is honored by the international Thoreau Society and his legacy honored by the Thoreau Institute at Walden Woods, established in 1998 in Lincoln, Massachusetts. His most famous work was Walden published in 1854. He was and continues to be extremely influential. A list of those acknowledging his influence includes Gandhi, J. F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., Tolstoy, Sinclair Lewis, Hemingway and many, many more. This book, The Maine Woods, recounts his trips through the Maine Wilderness in 1846, 1853 and 1857. Thoreau's evocative renderings of the life of the primitive forest--its mountains, waterways, fauna, flora, and inhabitants--are timeless and valuable on their own. But his impassioned protest against the despoilment of nature in the name of commerce and sport, which even by the 1850s threatened to deprive Americans of the "tonic of wildness," makes The Maine Woods an especially vital book for our own time. What would he think if he retraced his steps today? This book, 328 pages plus 22 pages of advertisements, is in good condition. The top and bottom of the spine are missing about 4mm each. The top of the spine is missing the cloth on the left hand side 13mm long by 5mm wide. The green cloth has come away from the joint between the spine and the front cover in three places for about half of the book. The wording on the spine has faded. Nevertheless, the book is very sound and square without a hint of looseness. A label with a previous owners name is pasted on the inside of the front cover. The pages of the book and the printing are in great condition with no hint of staining or foxing.

A collection of essays recounting Henry David Thoreau's experiences in the forests of Maine, USA, portraying the natural beauty and untamed wilderness of the area.