Walter Harding (1917-1996)
Walter Harding (1917-1996) was one of the leading Thoreau scholars of the 20th century. Harding received his B.S. from Bridgewater State College (1939), his M.A. from the University of North Carolina (1947) and his Ph.D. from Rutgers University (1950). The majority of his academic career was spent at the State University of New York-Geneseo where he taught from 1956 until his retirement in 1982.
The collection of Thoreauviana built by the late Professor Harding consists of first editions and manuscripts, thousands of articles and pamphlets, art, records, microfilm and extensive correspondence from leading Thoreau scholars. It is recognized as the world’s most comprehensive research collection on Henry D. Thoreau.
- A Walter Harding Bibliography
- Walter Harding:
- The Adventures of a Literary Detective (Typescript, 1989)
- Born-Again Thoreauvians: Sermon preached at First Parish Church of Concord, 16 July 1978
- Clear Sky, Pure Light: Introduction
- A Defense of Thoreau (1946) (Typescript of “Letter to the editor” to Kelsey Guilfoil of The Chicago Tribune, 1 December 1946)
- The First Years Sales of Walden (Typescript for TSB #117)
- Grolier Club Lecture, 16 February 1954 (Typescript)
- In Wildness is the Preservation of the World (Unpublished lecture delivered at the East Tennessee State University, 25 April 1979)
- Live Your Own Life: Commencement Address, SUNY Geneseo, May 1979 (Typescript)
- On Writing Thoreau’s Biography (Unpublished typescript)
- Thoreau, Sensuous Transcendentalist (Unpublished talk before the National Council of Teachers of English Convention, 23 November 1973)
- Twelve Weeks of Thoreau’s Concord and Merrimack Rivers (Unpublished typescript)
- The Walter Harding Collection:
