IN sending forth this volume, I wish to express my gratitude for the assistance kindly given me by several surviving friends of Thoreau, and some well-known students of his writings. I have received new information on many points of interest, in some cases with copies of unpublished documents, from Mr. F. B. Sanborn, Mr. Harrison G. O. Blake, Mr. Daniel Ricketson, Mr. Edward Hoar, Colonel T. W. Higginson, and Dr. E. W. Emerson, all of whom were personally associated with Thoreau. I am also under obligations to Dr. A. H. Japp (“H. A. Page”), Mr. John Burroughs, Mr. William Sloane Kennedy, Dr. Samuel A. Jones, who generously placed at my service his recently printed bibliography, and other correspondents.
I must further acknowledge my indebtedness to previously published Memoirs, especially those by Channing and Sanborn. My particular purpose has been to combine the various records and reminiscences of Thoreau, many of which are inaccessible to the majority of readers, and so to present what may supply a real want—a comprehensive account of his life, and a clear estimate of his ethical teaching.
Chapter I Youth
Chapter II Early Manhood
Chapter III Friendship with Emerson
Chapter IV At Walden
Chapter V Personality and Character
Chapter VI Literary Life at Concord
Chapter VII Excursions
Chapter VIII Closing Years
Chapter IX Doctrines
Chapter X Writings
Chapter XI Conclusion
Appendix
