Excursions

by Henry David Thoreau, Jeffrey S. Cramer, Ralph Waldo Emerson

Overview

A selection of ruminative nature writing on walking and the beauty of New England, here Thoreau’s characteristically wide-ranging and philosophical style offers a multitude of fascinating observations. Excursions presents Thoreau’s most studied and expansive collection of writing on the natural world. An early advocate of conservationism, he discusses here, in mesmerising prose, the complex but essential relationship between man and nature. This edition includes a remarkable ‘Biographical Sketch’ by Thoreau’s great contemporary and mentor Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781843312918
Publisher:	Anthem Press
Publication date:	10/15/2007
Series:	Anthem Travel Classics
Edition description:	First Edition, 1
Pages:	220
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.80(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862) was a pioneering author, naturalist, transcendentalist, tax resister, development critic, and philosopher. His most celebrated works include ‘Walden’ and ‘Civil Disobedience’.

Jeffrey S. Cramer is curator of collections for The Thoreau Institute at Walden Woods and the editor of ‘Walden: A Fully Annotated Edition’ and ‘What I Lived For: The Annotated Selected Journals of Henry D. Thoreau’, both published by Yale University Press.

Date of Birth:

July 12, 1817

Date of Death:

May 6, 1862

Place of Birth:

Concord, Massachusetts

Place of Death:

Concord, Massachusetts

Education:

Concord Academy, 1828-33); Harvard University, 1837

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations; Foreword by Jeffrey S. Cramer; Biographical Sketch by Ralph Waldo Emerson; Natural History of Massachusetts; A Walk to Wachusett; The Landlord; A Winter Walk; The Succession of Forest Trees; Walking; Autumnal Tints; Wild Apples; Night and Moonlight.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

'There was an excellent wisdom in him, proper to a rare class of men, which showed him the material world as a means and symbol… he had in a short life exhausted the capabilities of this world; wherever there is knowledge, wherever there is virtue, wherever there is beauty, he will find a home.' —Ralph Waldo Emerson, from his Biographical Sketch

Editorial Reviews

"Presents newly edited texts of nine essays—including some of Thoreau's most popular and engaging works—drawing from his writing career between 1842 and 1862. The collection highlights Thoreau's early use of themes and approaches that recur throughout his work, including explorations of internal and external geography."

Times Higher Education

"Students of textual editing should study this production as a model of the meticulous layers of investigation required to reach the highest standards of their craft. Thanks to Moldenhauer and the many others who assisted with this work, scholars and general readers now have, at long last, a critical text of Thoreau's beloved nature essays, a text that reproduces as closely as possible Thoreau's authorial intentions."—-Laura Dassow Walls, New England Quarterly

"We are grateful to Moldenhauer and Princeton University Press for their continuing dedication to providing modern readers with editions of Thoreau's writings that are sound, beautifully-produced and enduring pieces of scholarship in their own right."—-François Specq, Transatlantica

"Because of Moldenhauer's hard work, we know, in so far as it can be known, that when we read his text, we are reading Thoreau. The text is pure Thoreau, but Moldenhauer deserves a world of credit for making it what it is."—-Robert DeMaria, Amherst Magazine

"These essays are bound to have a growing impact on American culture. It is a pleasure to have them in this historically informative and scrupulously edited new edition."—-David M. Robinson, Thoreau Society Bulletin

From the Publisher

These essays are bound to have a growing impact on American culture. It is a pleasure to have them in this historically informative and scrupulously edited new edition.

Thoreau Society Bulletin - David M. Robinson

Because of Moldenhauer's hard work, we know, in so far as it can be known, that when we read his text, we are reading Thoreau. The text is pure Thoreau, but Moldenhauer deserves a world of credit for making it what it is.

Amherst Magazine - Robert DeMaria

Students of textual editing should study this production as a model of the meticulous layers of investigation required to reach the highest standards of their craft. Thanks to Moldenhauer and the many others who assisted with this work, scholars and general readers now have, at long last, a critical text of Thoreau's beloved nature essays, a text that reproduces as closely as possible Thoreau's authorial intentions.

New England Quarterly - Laura Dassow Walls

We are grateful to Moldenhauer and Princeton University Press for their continuing dedication to providing modern readers with editions of Thoreau's writings that are sound, beautifully-produced and enduring pieces of scholarship in their own right.

Transatlantica - Francois Specq

Presents newly edited texts of nine essays—including some of Thoreau's most popular and engaging works—drawing from his writing career between 1842 and 1862. The collection highlights Thoreau's early use of themes and approaches that recur throughout his work, including explorations of internal and external geography.

Time Magazines Higher Education

These essays are bound to have a growing impact on American culture. It is a pleasure to have them in this historically informative and scrupulously edited new edition.
— David M. Robinson

Thoreau Society Bulletin

Because of Moldenhauer's hard work, we know, in so far as it can be known, that when we read his text, we are reading Thoreau. The text is pure Thoreau, but Moldenhauer deserves a world of credit for making it what it is.
— Robert DeMaria

Amherst Magazine

We are grateful to Moldenhauer and Princeton University Press for their continuing dedication to providing modern readers with editions of Thoreau's writings that are sound, beautifully-produced and enduring pieces of scholarship in their own right.
— François Specq

Transatlantica

Students of textual editing should study this production as a model of the meticulous layers of investigation required to reach the highest standards of their craft. Thanks to Moldenhauer and the many others who assisted with this work, scholars and general readers now have, at long last, a critical text of Thoreau's beloved nature essays, a text that reproduces as closely as possible Thoreau's authorial intentions.
— Laura Dassow Walls

New England Quarterly