Walden`The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation' In 1845 Henry David Thoreau left his home town of Concord, Massachusetts to begin a new life alone, in a rough hut he built himself a mile and a half away on the north-west shore of Walden Pond. Walden is Thoreau's classic autobiographical account of this experiment in solitary living, his refusal to play by the rules of hard work and the accumulation of wealth and above all the freedom it gave him to adapt his living to the natural world around him. This new edition of Walden traces the sources of Thoreau's reading and thinking and considers the author in the context of his birthplace and his sense of its history - social, economic and natural. In addition, an ecological appendix provides modern identifications of the myriad plants and animals to which Thoreau gave increasingly close attention as he became acclimatized to his life in the woods by Walden Pond. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more. |
Contents
Introduction | ix |
Note on the Text | xliv |
Select Bibliography | xlix |
A Chronology of Henry David Thoreau | lii |
Concord Massachusetts | lviii |
Concord area | lx |
WALDEN | 1 |
Appendix | 298 |
Explanatory Notes | 311 |
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Common terms and phrases
American animal Baker Farm bark beans birds Boston bottom Brister's called cellar clothes common commonly Concord Academy Concord area Concord Lyceum Concord River dark distant door earth edition England English eyes farm farmer feet field fire fish Fitchburg Railroad forest grass green ground half hear heard heaven Henry David Thoreau Henry Thoreau Hill hole inches Indian johnswort keep labor land leaves Library of America live look Massachusetts meadow Merrimack Rivers mile morning Nature neighbors never night once perchance perhaps philosopher pine plant poor railroad rain river rods sand sense shore side snow sometimes sound spring squirrel Sudbury River summer surface things Thoreau thought tion town trees village vols Walden Pond walk Walter Harding warm wild William Ellery Channing wind winter woodchuck woods York