| Contents |
I. Youth : The artificial and the natural ; Henry Thoreau's birth and parentage ; The village of Concord -- its inhabitants, scenery, climate, and traditions ; Thoreau's boyhood ; Influences of heredity and association ; The Thoreau family ; His career at Harvard University ; Character and appearance ; Opinion of college system ; Early tendency to idealism ; Devotion to Concord |
| Contents |
II. Early manhood : Choice of a career ; Keeps the Concord "Academy" ; The Transcendental movement ; Effect on Thoreau ; Abandonment of professional pursuits ; Adopts an open-air life ; Early poems ; Youthful love and self-sacrifice ; His brother John ; Week on the Concord River ; Friendship with R.W. Emerson ; Connection with The Dial ; The Concord Transcendentalists ; Their meetings ; Thoreau's residence with the Emersons ; Friendship with Alcott, Margaret Fuller, Ellery Channing ; Death of John Thoreau |
| Contents |
III. Friendship with Emerson : Influence of Emerson on Thoreau ; Acquaintance with Hawthorne ; Contributions to The Dial ; The "walk to Wachusett" ; Solitude and society ; Life in Emerson's family ; Tutorship in Staten Island ; Letters to the Emersons ; Visits to New York ; New acquaintances ; The Brook Farm community ; Thoreau's individualism ; Plans for living in retirement ; Why he went to Walden |
| Contents |
IV. At Walden : Walden Pond ; Site of Thoreau's hut ; Building and furnishing ; Mode of life in the woods ; Simplicity of dress and diet ; Solitude ; Visitors from the village ; Fugitive slaves ; Refusal to pay poll tax ; Imprisonment ; Studies in natural history ; Reasons for leaving Walden ; Value of Thoreau's experiment |
| Contents |
v. Personality and character : Thoreau's personal appearance ; Mode of dress ; Fitness of body and mind ; Keenness of senses ; Idealism ; Its effect on his friendships ; Dislike of society ; Not a misanthrope ; Sympathy with children ; A Yankee Stoic ; Favourite [i.e. favorite] authors ; Oriental books ; Greek and Latin classics ; Indian studies ; Love of the wild ; His walks ; Familiarity with wild animals ; A poet-naturalist ; Magnetism of his character |
| Contents |
VI. Literary life in Concord : Second residence with the Emersons ; Publication of the Week ; Domestic life at Concord ; Friendship with Harrison Blake ; Pencil-making, surveying, and lecturing ; Meets A.H. Clough ; A fugitive slave assisted ; Publication of Walden ; New friends, Thomas Chomondeley, Daniel Ricketson, F.B. Sanborn ; Meeting with Walt Whitman ; John Brown ; Visits to "Brooklawn" ; A characteristic letter |
| Contents |
VII. Excursions : Thoreau's mode of travelling ; Excursions to Cape Cod ; The Yankee in Canada ; Three excursions to the Maine woods ; Letter to T.W. Higginson ; Love of mountains ; The White Mountains ; Monadnock |
| Contents |
VIII. Closing years : Signs of ill-health ; Relations with editors ; Death of Thoreau's father ; The Harper's Ferry incident ; Thoreau's "Plea for John Brown" ; A touchstone of his character ; Appreciated by his townsmen ; His confidence in the future ; Commencement of illness ; Visit to Minnesota ; The Civil War ; Thoreau's last winter ; His courage and cheerfulness ; His death ; Burial in "Sleepy Hollow" -- Tributes from his friends |
| Contents |
IX. Doctrines : Thoreau's aversion to system ; Idealism combinedwitht practicalness ; Originality ; Optimistic nature-worship ; Views on religion and immortality ; Insistence on self-culture and self-respect ; Dislike of "business" ; A champion of individuality and anarchism ; His gospel of simplicity ; His attitude towards civilisation [i.e. civilization], science, and art ; Misunderstandings of his doctrine ; His tenderness ; Sympathy with animals ; Humanitarian views ; Peculiar position among naturalists ; Powers of observation ; Idealism the secret of his creed |
| Contents |
X. Writings : Thoreau's disregard of "style" ; Combination of literary work and manual ; Conscientious workmanship ; Idealisation [i.e. Idealization] of common themes ; Poetical images and metaphors ; His love of concentration and paradox ; His humor [i.e. humor] ; Open-air sketches ; Essays ; Diaries ; Letters ; Poems |
| Contents |
XI. Conclusion : Uniqueness of Thoreau's personality ; Compared with other naturalists ; Erroneous criticisms of his doctrines ; Their true significance ; Final estimate of his character |
| Contents |
APPENDIX: 1. Thoreau's parentage ; 2. Portraits of Thoreau ; 3. Bibliography -- INDEX -- ERRATA. |
| Local note | Joyner Rare copy includes bookplate with the initials B.R. on front flyleaf. |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references (pages 300-307) and index. |
| Other forms | Also issued online. |
| Acquisitions source |
Joyner Rare copy gift of Dean Van Clay 10-4-22 |
| Issued in other form | Online version: Salt, Henry Stephens, 1851-1939. Life of Henry David Thoreau. London : R. Bentley, 1890 |
| LCCN | 31013407 |
