The Walden Woods Project

About Thoreau's Life & Writings

Herbert Wendell Gleason (1855-1937)

Herbert W. Gleason ― conservationist, naturalist and photographer ― was born in Malden, Massachusetts in 1855, and educated at Williams College and Union and Andover Seminaries. He spent the early part of his adult life as a Congregational minister mainly in Minneapolis.   In 1899, Gleason left the ministry and became an accomplished photographer, focusing on the natural landscape. Intensely interested in the writings of Henry Thoreau, Gleason traveled extensively retracing Thoreau footsteps, photographing precisely what Thoreau had written about in his books and journals. Between 1906 and 1916, Gleason explored and photographed the western wilderness, including Alaska, California and the Rockies, in his capacity as an Interior Department Inspector of the National Park Service. His official duties were to photograph the existing national park areas as well as those proposed for such status. Gleason photographs illustrated the 1906 Walden Edition of The Writings of Henry David Thoreau and his own 1917 publication Through the Year with Thoreau. Herbert W. Gleason died in 1937.

Thoreau Society Prints: A Finding Aid

Illustrations for The Writings of Henry David Thoreau (1906)

	The Thoreau Institute at Walden Woods Library
Conservation Education Research About us News Calendar Search Support Contact Home Thoreau's Writings: The Digital Collection Library Info and Catalogs The Collections E-mail the Library Copyright © 2008 The Walden Woods Project. For personal, educational or noncommercial use only.	About Thoreau's Life & Writings Herbert Wendell Gleason (1855-1937) Herbert W. Gleason ― conservationist, naturalist and photographer ― was born in Malden, Massachusetts in 1855, and educated at Williams College and Union and Andover Seminaries. He spent the early part of his adult life as a Congregational minister mainly in Minneapolis. In 1899, Gleason left the ministry and became an accomplished photographer, focusing on the natural landscape. Intensely interested in the writings of Henry Thoreau, Gleason traveled extensively retracing Thoreau footsteps, photographing precisely what Thoreau had written about in his books and journals. Between 1906 and 1916, Gleason explored and photographed the western wilderness, including Alaska, California and the Rockies, in his capacity as an Interior Department Inspector of the National Park Service. His official duties were to photograph the existing national park areas as well as those proposed for such status. Gleason photographs illustrated the 1906 Walden Edition of The Writings of Henry David Thoreau and his own 1917 publication Through the Year with Thoreau. Herbert W. Gleason died in 1937. Thoreau Society Prints: A Finding Aid Illustrations for The Writings of Henry David Thoreau (1906)