The Correspondence of Henry D. Thoreau

The final volume of the definitive edition of Thoreau’s correspondence

This is the third and final volume of the first full-scale scholarly edition of Thoreau’s correspondence in more than half a century. Together, the volumes present every known letter written or received by Thoreau, almost 650 in all, including more than 100 that have never been published before.

Correspondence 3: 1857–1862 contains 239 letters, 121 written by Thoreau and 118 written to him. Sixty-seven letters are collected here for the first time; of these, forty-four have not been published before, including five dated between 1837 and 1855 that are included in an addenda. During this period, Thoreau was well established as a writer and lecturer, and he continued to pursue the interests and activities that had occupied him earlier in the 1850s. Letters document the publication of “Chesuncook” (1858) and “An Address on the Succession of Forest Trees” (1860), as well as his preparations, a few months before his death, for the posthumous publication of The Maine Woods and the essays “Walking,” “Autumnal Tints,” “Wild Apples,” and “Life without Principle.” Two weeks after John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry, he delivered the country’s first public defense of Brown’s character and actions; his address, “A Plea for Captain John Brown,” was published in 1860. Correspondents during this period include a robust network of friends, several of whom joined him on hiking and canoeing trips in 1857, 1858, and 1860. His ongoing phenological studies are reflected in letters to other scientific naturalists, and this volume contains letters indicating his appointment as an examiner for Harvard’s Department of Natural History in 1859 and 1860.

Following every letter, annotations identify correspondents, individuals mentioned, and books quoted, and describe events to which the letter refers. A historical introduction sets the letters in the context of Thoreau’s life and times, a textual introduction lays out the editorial principles and procedures followed, and a general introduction discusses the history of the publication of Thoreau’s correspondence. Proper names, publications, events, and ideas found in both the letters and the annotations are included in a comprehensive index.