THE MAINE WOODS

Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1864. Very good.. First edition of this collection of travel memoirs from the great American ecological aesthete, his first excursion taken while living at Walden Pond. Transcendentalist Thoreau idealizes one of the most powerful strains of the American spirit, a "spiritual seeker, philosopher, and poet [... who] encouraged his readers to try the experiment of life for themselves" (Walls, xiii). Independent-minded and a committed naturalist, his writing have had an enormous impact on popular American environmentalism. Published posthumously, MAINE WOODS collects the stories of three different journeys in the Maine woods in 1846, 1853, and 1857. The first two ("Ktaadn" and "Chesuncook") had appeared previously in newspapers, while the final ("The Allegash and East Branch") is here printed for the first time. 7'' x 4.5''. Original brown cloth, rebacked with original spine laid down. Brown coated endpapers. With prices in list of Thoreau's books; found with and without ads, this copy without (ref. BAL 20113). [8], 328 pages. Early bookplate to front pastedown. Mild marginal foxing, touches of shelfwear. Tight. Housed in custom quarter maroon goatskin clamshell box.