This is the inaugural volume in the first full-scale scholarly edition
of Thoreau's correspondence in more than half a century. When completed,
the edition's three volumes will include every extant letter written or
received by Thoreau--in all, almost 650 letters, roughly 150 more than
in any previous edition, including dozens that have never before been
published.
Correspondence 1 contains 163 letters, ninety-six written by Thoreau
and sixty-seven to him. Twenty-five are collected here for the first
time; of those, fourteen have never before been published. These letters
provide an intimate view of Thoreau's path from college student to
published author. At the beginning of the volume, Thoreau is a Harvard
sophomore; by the end, some of his essays and poems have appeared in
periodicals and he is at work on A Week on the Concord and Merrimack
Rivers and Walden. The early part of the volume documents Thoreau's
friendships with college classmates and his search for work after
graduation, while letters to his brother and sisters reveal warm,
playful relationships among the siblings. In May 1843, Thoreau moves to
Staten Island for eight months to tutor a nephew of Emerson's. This move
results in the richest period of letters in the volume: thirty-two by
Thoreau and nineteen to him. From 1846 through 1848, letters about
publishing and lecturing provide details about Thoreau's first years as
a professional author. As the volume closes, the most ruminative and
philosophical of Thoreau's epistolary relationships begins, that with
Harrison Gray Otis Blake. Thoreau's longer letters to Blake amount to
informal lectures, and in fact Blake invited a small group of friends to
readings when these arrived.
Following every letter, annotations identify correspondents, individuals
mentioned, and books quoted, cited, or alluded to, and describe events
to which the letters refer. A historical introduction characterizes the
letters and connects them with the events of Thoreau's life, a textual
introduction lays out the editorial principles and procedures followed,
and a general introduction discusses the significance of letter-writing
in the mid-nineteenth century and the history of the publication of
Thoreau's letters. Finally, a thorough index provides comprehensive
access to the letters and annotations.