THOREAU, HENRY DAVID. 1817-1862.
A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers. Boston and Cambridge: James Munroe and Company... et al, 1849. 8vo. 1 p terminal advertisement, "Will Soon Be Published Walden, or Life in the Woods." Publisher's cloth, ruled in blind, lettered in gilt to spine, custom green cloth solander box, with morocco title label, light chipping at the corners of spine, light dampstain to final blanks.
Provenance: Le Baron Russell (friend of Ralph Waldo Emerson, pencil inscription of a descendant to endpaper); Maxwell Hunley Rare Books (bookseller's ticket).
FIRST EDITION, FIRST ISSUE OF THOREAU'S FIRST BOOK IN THE ORIGINAL CLOTH. Now considered a classic, Thoreau's first book was originally perhaps the most famous failure in publishing. After writing the original manuscript at Walden Pond from 1845-1847, Thoreau re-edited the manuscript as he worked on Walden for two years beginning in 1847. Not finding a publisher, Thoreau had the book printed at his own expense in 1849, but the book fared poorly, and just a few years later the publisher returned 706 copies of the 1000 printed. These copies would languish in Thoreau's closet until the bulk were purchased by Ticknor and Field and re-issued with a new title page in 1862. BAL 20104a. Borst A1.1.a1; Johnson High Spots, p 73.
