I to Myself: An Annotated Selection from the Journal of Henry D. Thoreau

by Henry David Thoreau, Jeffrey S. Cramer (Editor)

It was his friend Ralph Waldo Emerson, another inveterate journal keeper, who urged Thoreau to keep a record of his thoughts and observations. Begun in 1837, Thoreau’s journal spans a period of twenty-five years and runs to more than two million words, coming to a halt only in 1861, shortly before the author’s death. The handwritten journal had somewhat humble origins, but as it grew in scope and ambition it came to function as a record of Thoreau’s interior life as well as the source for his books and essays. Indeed, it became the central concern of the author’s literary life. Critics now recognize Thoreau’s journal as an important artistic achievement in its own right.

Making selections from the entirety of the journal, Cramer presents all aspects of Thoreau: writer, thinker, naturalist, social reformer, neighbor, friend. No other single-volume edition offers such a full picture of Thoreau’s life and work. Cramer’s annotations add to the reader’s enjoyment and understanding. He provides notes on the biographical, historical, and geographical contexts of Thoreau’s life. The relation between Journal passages and the texts of works published in the author’s lifetime receive special emphasis. A companion to Walden: A Fully Annotated Edition, this gift edition of the Journal will be dipped into and treasured, and it makes a welcome addition to any book lover’s library.

Genres: Nonfiction, Classics, Philosophy, Nature, Memoir, Journal

528 pages, Hardcover

First published September 15, 2007

About the author

Henry David Thoreau (born David Henry Thoreau) was an American author, naturalist, transcendentalist, tax resister, development critic, philosopher, and abolitionist who is best known for Walden, a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings, and his essay, Civil Disobedience, an argument for individual resistance to civil government in moral opposition to an unjust state.

Thoreau's books, articles, essays, journals, and poetry total over 20 volumes. Among his lasting contributions were his writings on natural history and philosophy, where he anticipated the methods and findings of ecology and environmental history, two sources of modern day environmentalism.

In 1817, Henry David Thoreau was born in Massachusetts. He graduated from Harvard University in 1837, taught briefly, then turned to writing and lecturing. Becoming a Transcendentalist and good friend of Emerson, Thoreau lived the life of simplicity he advocated in his writings. His two-year experience in a hut in Walden, on land owned by Emerson, resulted in the classic, Walden: Life in the Woods (1854). During his sojourn there, Thoreau refused to pay a poll tax in protest of slavery and the Mexican war, for which he was jailed overnight. His activist convictions were expressed in the groundbreaking On the Duty of Civil Disobedience (1849). In a diary he noted his disapproval of attempts to convert the Algonquins "from their own superstitions to new ones." In a journal he noted dryly that it is appropriate for a church to be the ugliest building in a village, "because it is the one in which human nature stoops to the lowest and is the most disgraced." (Cited by James A. Haught in 2000 Years of Disbelief.) When Parker Pillsbury sought to talk about religion with Thoreau as he was dying from tuberculosis, Thoreau replied: "One world at a time."

Thoreau's philosophy of nonviolent resistance influenced the political thoughts and actions of such later figures as Leo Tolstoy, Mohandas K. Gandhi, and Martin Luther King, Jr. D. 1862.

More: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/tho...

http://thoreau.eserver.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Da...

http://transcendentalism-legacy.tamu....

http://www.biography.com/people/henry...

Reviews

[Ken · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm going to miss the little guy. Started this book in October of 2010. Then, after fits and starts (it's not a book one reads wall-to-wall), I moved it to my kitchen, just below the cookbooks.

Every time The Boston Globe was late -- and trust me, adult drivers are nowhere near as trusty as the boys on bikes of old -- I pulled out Thoreau's annotated journals and had breakfast with Henry.

This morning, due to the snowstorm, the Globe was late again. As usual.

Henry developed a cough. It dragged on. His entries, in the end, were no longer dated and sporadic at best. He left for Minnesota, of all places, in hopes of a cure. It did not work.

Finally, in May of '62, at the gentle age of 44, Henry David Thoreau said his last words ("Moose. Indian," allegedly) and gave up the ghost. His last entry was dated 3 November of 1861. At least he missed the Uncivil War.

Thoreau was quite the scientist. And he had more Common Sense than Thomas Paine could ever hope to find. As an antidote to materialism and capitalism, he cannot be bested. If you're sick to death of "stuff," here's your man. His "stuff" grows outside and is ill-considered and treated by man (unless there's money to be had).

Guest appearances by Ralph, Waldo, and Emerson. Also Emerson's son, Edward. And Wisdom, which is twitchy about cameos.

So up it goes to my study again. Back on the bookshelf with friends, where I will consult it now and again when I need a dose or just before I ride my bike Concord way for a Transcendental fix.

Moose.

Indian.

Simplicity.

Thanks....

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

It all starts here. Everything memorable Thoreau wrote landed in his journal first. The annotations make fascinating supplement -- good page design, easy to read in spacious layout. Great book for just dipping into. No matter where you open the book, you'll find a marvelous bit of description or insightful commentary on T's latest reading project. A must-read for Thoreau devotees.

Ok, I haven't actually finished this book. Not the kind of thing one reads start to finish -- better for whimsical sampling -- but I felt the need to clean up my "currently reading" shelf.

[Natale Cozzolongo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't get through the entire thing before it was due back to the library but the selections I did read I found to be as inspiring and more accessible than Waldon. Perhaps because these little blurbs were more to the point and didn't get bogged down in the minutiae of life.
If not useful as an intimate portrayal of Thoreau's approach to life, it is at least an inspiration to potential journal keepers and people who think daily. If anything will encourage me to keep a journal of any kind it will be Thoreau's first entry: "'What are you doing now?' he (Emerson) asked. 'Do you keep a journal?' So I make my first entry today." Well, it's about time I start that twitter account.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

picked this up cheap from the bargain bin / a beautifully written and provocative traveling companion on my road-trips to Alaska

[Carolin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dieses Hörbuch bietet einen Einblick in Henry David Thoreaus Werk "Walden". Es wurden aussagekräftige Passagen ausgewählt und von einem (meiner Meinung nach) sehr talentierten Sprecher vorgetragen.

So hat mir das Hören viel Freude bereitet, auch wenn ich in vielen Punkten nicht Thoreaus Meinung teile, aber das muss man ja auch nicht, denn zum Nachdenken regt er allemal an und es war sehr interessant, seine Weltsicht etwas besser verstehen zu lernen. Wahrscheinlich braucht jeder Mensch einmal im Leben sein oder ihr persönliches Walden.

Und jetzt freue ich mich nach dieser Einstimmung auf das "ganze" Walden, das schon im Regal steht.

[Christian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jeffrey S. Cramer did well to select representative entries from Thoreau's journals, collecting them in a beautiful book with helpful marginal glosses. There were times that I buried myself in those glosses, and I lost the flow of particular journal entries, but overall they were helpful. Any marginal meanderings were my fault, not Cramer's.

I love Thoreau's wit, sarcasm, and, perhaps most of all, his writing style. All are evidenced in this collection. If you have enjoyed Thoreau and want to see his thought process and writing process, then you could do much worse than to start here.

[jill seidelman · Rating 5 out of 5]

interesting perspective on thoreau and how brilliant he was even in his younger years... this is a dreamy book for me... love reflecting on the journal entries... a unique perspective into his life and thoughts...

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoreau's journal is breathtakingly beautiful, and more importantly for most readers, provides much-needed context for understanding the man behind Walden and the essays. Cramer's annotations are invaluable.

[Katherine Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

I confess I did not read every word of this book. I dipped into it at random locations and got caught up in Thoreau's days. I used the index to search out particular subjects. I copied down sections to hold onto for later. If you like reading the journals of writers and thinkers, if you are a fan of H.D. Thoreau, you will like this book. If not, you won't. Even I, who meet the above criteria, found the accompanying annotations somewhat distracting, although at times useful.