Contemporary Notices and Reviews of 
Walden; or, Life in the Woods
_______

William Rounseville Alger, "Literary Notices"
Universalist Quarterly (October 1849): 423.

We are glad to learn that the author intends soon to publish another volume, called,—Walden, or Life in the Woods.  On such a theme, owing to his singular familiarity with nature and love for her, he is able to write a work that will not die.  For the satisfaction and advantage of his readers, for his own fame, and for the wide distribution and long existence of his book, we beg him to let it be, simply, what its title imports, and not crowd it with heterogeneous thoughts upon a thousand other subjects.  That is not his forte.  If he persists in thinking that it is, then let him pursue it, by itself, with a set purpose.  Great works are not achieved accidentally, by the wayside, our author's authority to the contrary notwithstanding.

Return to Henry D. Thoreau: Works: Walden
Return to Henry D. Thoreau: Works: Walden: Contemporary Notices and Reviews
Return to Henry D. Thoreau: Life & Writings

• Report errors to the Curator of Collections