Henry David Thoreau papers, 1836-[1862].
(Mixed Material)

Four series: I. Surveys; II. Survey-related notes, mss., etc.; III. Mss.; IV. Correspondence.

Papers, 1836-[1862]: ca. 190 ms. surveys, 1846-1860, most of land and property in Concord, Mass., but incl. some of other locations; survey-related notes and mss., 1840-1861, among them a volume of field notes made between 1849 and 1861, and two receipts for surveying (one to Nathan Brooks, one to Town of Concord); mss., incl. publisher's ms. of "Walking," [1862] (published in Atlantic Monthly, June, 1862), accompanied by photocopy of ms., typed transcript by Thomas Blanding, and photocopy of published piece in Atlantic Monthly; and correspondence, incl.

(Cont.) undated ALS from Robert Collyer, 1836 ALS from Charles Wyatt Rice, and 1855 ALS from Elizabeth Oakes Smith.

Henry David Thoreau Papers, Special Collections, Concord Free Public Library, Concord, Mass.

Surveys, volume of field notes, and ms. "Walking":,available on microfilm;,for use in Library.

Multiple sources of acquisition.

Bulk of surveys and related materials:,Sophia Thoreau;,deposit;,1874/75.

Bulk of surveys and related materials:,Sophia Thoreau;,bequest;,1876/77.

Two surveys (unspecified):,Wallace A. Calef;,gift;,1899/1900.

Receipt to Town of Concord:,Dr. Randolph Piper;,gift;,1969.

Ms. "Walking":,James T. Fields;,gift in honor of opening of Concord Free Public Library;,Sept., 1873;,acc. no. 8581.

R. Collyer letter:,Concord Antiquarian Society;,deposit;,1971.

R. Collyer letter:,Concord Antiquarian Society;,gift;,1974.

C.W. Rice and E.O. Smith letters:,Robert F. Lucas;,purchase (from Bonnie Bracker Fund);,1992.

American author, lecturer, naturalist, student of native American artifacts and life, transcendentalist, land surveyor, and life-long resident of Concord, Mass. Schoolteacher (public and private) and tutor at various times. Active opponent of slavery and critic of society. Born July 12, 1817; died May 6, 1862. Began keeping journal--the source for much of his writing--in 1834. Graduated from Harvard College in 1837. Lecturer for Concord Lyceum from 1838. Lived in Emerson household 1841-1843. Built house at Walden Pond, where he lived from summer of 1845 until Sept., 1847.

(Cont.) Actively took up land and property surveying in 1840's, working both for Town of Concord and for private property owners. A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers was published in 1849, Walden, or, Life in the Woods in 1854, other works (several edited from HDT's manuscripts by his sister Sophia) posthumously. Complete works: Riverside Edition (1894); Walden Edition (1906); Princeton Edition (ongoing as of 1/97).

Finding aid in Library.