Excursions

by Henry David Thoreau

Overview

Excursions is an 1863 anthology of several essays by American transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau. The anthology contains an introduction entitled "Biographical Sketch" in which fellow transcendentalist Ralph Waldo Emerson provides a description of Thoreau.

The book, other than R. W. Emerson's biography of Thoreau, contains nine of Thoreau's essays: Natural History of Massachusetts, A Walk to Wachusett, The Landlord, A Winter Walk, The Succession of Forest Trees, Walking, Autumnal Tints, Wild Apples, and Night and Moonlight. (wikipedia.org)

About the author:

Henry David Thoreau (see name pronunciation; July 12, 1817 - May 6, 1862) was an American essayist, poet, and philosopher. A leading transcendentalist, he is best known for his book Walden, a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings, and his essay "Civil Disobedience" (originally published as "Resistance to Civil Government"), an argument for disobedience to an unjust state.

Thoreau's books, articles, essays, journals, and poetry amount to more than 20 volumes. Among his lasting contributions are his writings on natural history and philosophy, in which he anticipated the methods and findings of ecology and environmental history, two sources of modern-day environmentalism. His literary style interweaves close observation of nature, personal experience, pointed rhetoric, symbolic meanings, and historical lore, while displaying a poetic sensibility, philosophical austerity, and attention to practical detail. He was also deeply interested in the idea of survival in the face of hostile elements, historical change, and natural decay; at the same time he advocated abandoning waste and illusion in order to discover life's true essential needs.

He was a lifelong abolitionist, delivering lectures that attacked the Fugitive Slave Law while praising the writings of Wendell Phillips and defending the abolitionist John Brown. Thoreau's philosophy of civil disobedience later influenced the political thoughts and actions of such notable figures as Leo Tolstoy, Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King Jr.

Thoreau is sometimes referred to as an anarchist. Though "Civil Disobedience" seems to call for improving rather than abolishing government-"I ask for, not at once no government, but at once a better government"-the direction of this improvement contrarily points toward anarchism: "'That government is best which governs not at all;' and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government which they will have." (wikipedia.org)

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798888306253
Publisher:	Bibliotech Press
Publication date:	06/29/2023
Pages:	164
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.56(d)

About the Author

Joseph J. Moldenhauer is the Mody C. Boatright Regents Professor Emeritus at the University of Texas, Austin.

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

Natural History of Massachusetts     3
A Walk to Wachusett     29
The Landlord     47
A Winter Walk     55
A Yankee in Canada     79
An Address on the Succession of Forest Trees     165
Walking     185
Autumnal Tints     223
Wild Apples     261
Editorial Appendix
Index     293
Notes on Illustrations     315
Acknowledgments     317
Short Titles     324
Library Symbols     327
Historical Introduction     330
Textual Introduction     364
Headnotes, Textual Notes, and Tables
Natural History of Massachusetts     390
A Walk to Wachusett     403
The Landlord     419
A Winter Walk     425
A Yankee in Canada     471
An Address on the Succession of Forest Trees     544
Walking     561
Autumnal Tints     601
Wild Apples     633
End-of-Line Hyphenation     647

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