Synopses & Reviews
It was his friend Ralph Waldo Emerson, another inveterate journal keeper, who urged Thoreau to keep a record of his thoughts and observations. Begun in 1837, Thoreauand#8217;s journal spans a period of twenty-five years and runs to more than two million words, coming to a halt only in 1861, shortly before the authorand#8217;s death. The handwritten journal had somewhat humble origins, but as it grew in scope and ambition it came to function as a record of Thoreauand#8217;s interior life as well as the source for his books and essays. Indeed, it became the central concern of the authorand#8217;s literary life. Critics now recognize Thoreauand#8217;s journal as an important artistic achievement in its own right.
Making selections from the entirety of the journal, Cramer presents all aspects of Thoreau: writer, thinker, naturalist, social reformer, neighbor, friend. No other single-volume edition offers such a full picture of Thoreauand#8217;s life and work. Cramerand#8217;s annotations add to the readerand#8217;s enjoyment and understanding. He provides notes on the biographical, historical, and geographical contexts of Thoreauand#8217;s life. The relation between Journal passages and the texts of works published in the authorand#8217;s lifetime receive special emphasis. A companion to Walden: A Fully Annotated Edition, this gift edition of the Journal will be dipped into and treasured, and it makes a welcome addition to any book loverand#8217;s library.
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Review
"Those who have long relished this earthy, adventurous book, as well as those who are discovering it for the first time, have reason to rejoice over this new edition, which has been so meticulously annotated by Jeffrey Cramer.and#8221;and#8212;Scott Russell Sanders, author of A Conservationist Manifesto.
Review
"Fresh access to
The Maine Woods alone would justify this finely organized edition. Thanks to Jeffrey Cramerand#8217;s scrupulous, devoted elucidation, we now have Thoreauand#8217;s whole word- and thought-horde, as this great writer, steeped in natural history, ventures between vivid detail and rapture. Everything comes alive in these newly revealing pages, from the and#8216;Vast, Titanic, inhuman Natureand#8217; Thoreau finds in climbing Katahdinandnbsp;to his respect for Maineand#8217;s Native Americans."and#8212;John Felstiner, author of
Can Poetry Save the Earth: A Field Guide to Nature PoemsReview
and#8220;Having given us his beautifully annotated selections from Thoreau's journals, Jeffrey Cramer turns his attention to
The Maine Woods.andnbsp;It is with great pleasure that we get to follow Thoreau down rivers, up mountains, and after moose, peaking with hisandnbsp;famous experience of and#8216;contact!and#8217;andnbsp;atop Mountandnbsp;Katahdin.andnbsp;Cramer, as our secondary guide, provides us with context,andnbsp;insights, and hard facts, annotations that are, to paraphrase Thoreau, clear, condensed and nut-hard.andnbsp;A joy to read.and#8221;and#8212;David Gessner, University of North Carolina at Wilmington
Review
"Cramer has produced there of these handsome editions of Thoreau's work: a selection of the journals, Walden, and The Maine Woods. Thanks to the detailed glosses Cramer provides, each volume is a vade mecum for the Thoreauvian. . . . They are treasure troves of valuable information."and#8212;Robert E. Burkholder, The New England Quarterly
Review
"There is nothing like thisand#8212;within the covers of one bookand#8212;in the world of Thoreau scholarship. The book is fascinating . . . accurate and minute in its scholarship. It amounts to a Thoreau encyclopedia in one volume!"and#8212;Joel Porte, author of
Consciousness and Culture: Emerson and Thoreau ReviewedReview
"Cramerand#8217;s notes are immensely useful. His edition of Walden will be a boon to ordinary readers and scholars alike."and#8212;Denis Donoghue, author of
Speaking of BeautyReview
andquot;Thoreau's masterpieceandmdash;here freshly refurbished by Jeffrey S. Cramerandmdash;speaks to our material and spiritual condition as powerfully as on the day it first appeared.and#160; Now, more than ever,
Walden is our indispensable American book.andquot;andmdash;Alan D. Hodder, professor of comparative religion, Hampshire Collegeand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
Review
"Jeffrey Cramer's
Walden is the most accurate and readable text of Thoreau's masterpiece. Cramer's version now replaces all other available editions of
Walden as the most attractive and reliable way to approach this great American book."and#8212;Joel Porte, author of
Consciousness and Culture: Emerson and Thoreau ReviewedReview
and#8220;Anyone who reads Thoreau in editions annotated by the great Jeffrey S. Cramer . . . will know everything there is to know about Thoreau and (amazingly) have a fun time learning it.and#8221;and#8212;Sarah Payne Stuart, author of Perfectly Miserable: Guilt, God, and Real Estate in a Small Town
Review
Selected as a 2008 AAUP University Press Book for Public and Secondary School Libraries.
Review
"Jeffrey Cramer, curator at the Thoreau Institute at Walden Woods, makes selections from the journal and accompanies each with insightful commentary. As autumn gives way to winter, one thinks of Thoreau's work as a great naturalist, but his words about art, life, politics, friendshipand#8212;and even his neighborsand#8212;make a lovely book to read, sitting by a cozy fire."and#8212;Elizabeth Taylor, Chicago Tribune (Editor's Choice)
Review
"The selections, as well as Cramer's informative annotations, give a well-rounded portrait of the writer and his world. For those who know Thoreau only from his more familiar writings, e.g., Walden, these generous excerpts will provide an accessible entry into the thoughts, feelings, and preoccupations of this unique American author. . . . Recommended for all public and academic library collections."and#8212;Library Journal
Review
"A welcome and appealing work, whose chief strength lies in the range and detail of the information provided in its annotations."and#8212;David M. Robinson,andnbsp;author of Natural Life: Thoreau's Worldly Transcendentalismandnbsp;andnbsp;
Review
and#8220;In editing and annotating this selection from the two-million-word journal of Thoreau, Cramer has aimed to provide general readers with a clean, reliable, intelligently chosen series of entries from the massive original. . . . He has admirably succeeded.and#8221;and#8212;Wayne Franklin,and#160;University of Connecticutand#160;
Review
"No other currently available selection of Thoreau's journals better demonstrates the diversity of the author's vision. . . . Cramer's is the first such work to represent the journal and its author in their full complexity. Cramer's generous annotations will be useful to a broad audience. . . . Highly recommended."and#8212;Choice
Synopsis
This new selection of Thoreau s essays traces his trajectory as a writer for the outlets of his day the periodical press, newspapers, and compendiums and as a frequent presenter on the local lecture circuit. By arranging the writings chronologically, the volume re-creates the experience of Thoreau s readers as they followed his developing ideas over time.
Jeffrey S. Cramer, award-winning editor of six previous volumes of works by Thoreau, offers the most accurate text available for each essay and provides convenient on-page annotations. He establishes context and guides the reader through unfamiliar allusions and references, plumbing the depths of Thoreau s writings with unprecedented insight.
Among the essays in this book:
. The Last Days of John Brown
. Resistance to Civil Government Civil Disobedience]
. Thomas Carlyle and His Works
. Natural History of Massachusetts
. and many more
"
Synopsis
and#147;On the 31st of August, 1846, I left Concord in Massachusetts for Bangor and the backwoods of Maineand#8221;and#151;thus begins The Maine Woods, the evocative story of Thoreauand#8217;s journeys through a familiar yet untouched land.
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As he explores Mt. Katahdin (an Indian word meaning and#147;highest landand#8221;), Lake Chesuncook, the Allagash River, and the East Branch of the Penobscot, Thoreau muses on his own vulnerability and the humility engendered by his solitude in the wilderness. Throughout Thoreau invokes the forest of Maineand#151;the mountains, waterways, fauna, flora, and the peopleand#151;in his singular style. Echoing Walden, Thoreauand#8217;s passionate outcry against the degradation of the environment in The Maine Woods will resonate strongly today.
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This fully annotated gift edition of The Maine Woods makes a wonderful companion volume to Walden: A Fully Annotated Edition and I to Myself: An Annotated Selection from the Journal of Henry D. Thoreau.
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Synopsis
This is the authoritative edition of an American literaru classic:and#160;Henry David Thoreauandrsquo;s Walden, an elegantly written record of his experiment in simple living.and#160;With this edition, and#160;Thoreau scholar Jeffrey S. Cramer has meticulously corrected errors and omissions from previous editions of
Walden and
here provides illuminating notes on the biographical, historical, and geographical contexts ofand#160;the great nineteenth-century writer and thinker'sand#160;life.
Cramerandrsquo;s newly edited text is based on the original 1854 edition of Walden, with emendations taken from Thoreauandrsquo;s draft manuscripts, his own markings on the page proofs, and notes in his personal copy of the book. In the editorandrsquo;s notes to the volume, Cramer quotes from sources Thoreau actually read, showing how he used, interpreted, and altered these sources. Cramer also glosses Walden with references to Thoreauandrsquo;s essays, journals, and correspondence. With the wealth of material in this edition, readers will find an unprecedented opportunity to immerse themselves in the unique and fascinating world of Thoreau.
Anyone who has read and loved Walden will want to own and treasure this gift edition. Those wishing to read Walden for the first time will not find a better guide than Jeffrey S. Cramer.
Synopsis
This handsome, affordable paperback edition of
Walden is the most authoritative version of Henry David Thoreauandrsquo;s classic American literarymasterpiece to date.and#160;Jeffrey Cramerandrsquo;s newly edited text is based on the original 1854 edition of
Walden, with emendations taken from Thoreauandrsquo;s draft manuscripts, his own markings on page proofs, and notes in his personal copy of the book. An elegantly produced paperback, it has been priced especially with the student market in mind. An introduction by Denis Donoghue places Thoreauandrsquo;s life and achievement in context. Also included here are notes on the text, an afterword by the editor, and a helpful selected bibliography.
About the Author
Jeffrey S. Cramer is curator of collections, The Thoreau Institute at Walden Woods. He is the editor of Thoreau on Freedom: Attending to Man: Selected Writings of Henry David Thoreau.