Walden, and On the Duty of Civil Disobediance

by Richard S Hartmetz (Editor), Henry David Thoreau

Overview

In 1854, Thoreau decided to experimentby living the simple life. He spent twoyears living at Walden Pond, inMassachusetts. Join us for an elegantly written recordof his observations and undertakingsto survive in the wilderness, andlive in harmony with nature.This is one of the best-knownnon-fiction books written inAmerica; Thoreau's ownpersonal declarationof independence.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781494368258
Publisher:	CreateSpace Publishing
Publication date:	12/03/2013
Pages:	300
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.63(d)
Lexile:	1340L (what's this?)

About the Author

Henry David Thoreau was born David Henry Thoreau on July 12, 1817, in Concord, Massachusetts, the third and final child in the family. His father was a pencil maker.
David earned a Bachelor's Degree at Harvard in 1837 and reversed the order of his first and middle names. In 1838, he and his brother opened a grammar school in Concord, but his brother cut himself while shaving and died from tetanus in 1842.
Thoreau became friends with Ralph Waldo Emerson and Nathaniel Hawthorne among others, and they urged him to contribute poetry to a quarterly magazine. In 1841, he moved in with Emerson, serving as a tutor to the children and the gardener.
In 1844, he worked in his family's pencil factory, where he remained for the rest of his life. In 1845, he built a small hut on the shores of Walden Pond, land owned by Emerson, and began a two-year experiment in simple living. This gave him the inspiration to write his masterpiece, "Walden," in 1854.
In 1846, Thoreau was jailed for refusing to pay six years of back taxes because of his opposition to slavery. His aunt paid the tax against his wishes and he was released.
Leaving the woods in 1847, he moved back in with Emerson to help manage the household and pay off his debts. He moved into his own home in 1850.
In 1835, Thoreau contracted tuberculosis. In 1859, he was outside late in the rain and came down with bronchitis and spent the next three years in declining health. He died on May 6, 1862, at the age of 44, in Concord, and is buried there in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery.