Excursions »

"How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live," Henry David Thoreau once observed. The American poet, essayist and philosopher certainly held himself to that standard -- living out the tenets of Transcendentalism, recounting the experience in his masterpiece, Walden (1854), and passionately advocating human rights and civil liberties in the famous essay, Civil Disobedience (1849).

This choice collection of Thoreau’s nature writing includes the essays ‘The Succession of Forest Trees,’ ‘Walking’, and ‘Autumnal Tints’ – each one an explorative reach into the heart of the natural world. Thoreau’s travels through the woods of New England are not only physical journeys through some of the most awe-inspiring landscapes in America but also spiritual excursions of the mind.

Times Higher Education

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.

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