Books

First edition of Thoreau's first book – 1000 copies published at his own expense of which only 550 were bound - less than 300 were sold or given away by the publisher and Thoreau, and in 1853 the remainder was returned to him whereupon he hauled it up to his attic and sarcastically bemoaned the dismal sales. Top edge uncut. Minor wear to spine ends, minor sporadic foxing, lettering at spine foot rubbed off(a common occurrence with the wispy spine cloth), else a Fine, crisp copy with bright gilt. Scarce in this condition, even 100 years ago when this copy sold at auction. Ex-Jacob Chester Chamberlain, famed turn of the century collector with three lines of text dropped by the publisher penciled in his hand on page 396, along with his acquisition slip from another noted collector, Beverly Chew of the Grolier Club in New York City. Housed in an amazing contemporary custom pull off case with elaborate tooling, commissioned by Chamberlain, as was his custom for many of his most fantastic…

A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers is a book by the American transcendentalist writer Henry David Thoreau. In it, Thoreau recounts a boating trip he took with his brother John from Concord, Massachusetts to the mountains of New Hampshire. It blends travel writing with nature observations and philosophical reflections inspired by the works of Ralph Waldo Emerson, who was Thoreau's friend and mentor.

True first editions can be identified by the publisher's imprint and the date of 1849.