The Literary Naturalist Series

Henry D. Thoreau traveled to the backwoods of Maine in 1846, 1853, and 1857. Originally published in 1864, and published now with a new introduction by Paul Theroux, this volume is a powerful telling of those journeys through a rugged and largely unspoiled land. It presents Thoreau's fullest account of the wilderness.

The Maine Woods is classic Thoreau: a personal story of exterior and interior discoveries in a natural setting--all conveyed in taut, masterly prose. Thoreau's evocative renderings of the life of the primitive forest--its mountains, waterways, fauna, flora, and inhabitants--are timeless and valuable on their own. But his impassioned protest against the despoilment of nature in the name of commerce and sport, which even by the 1850s threatened to deprive Americans of the "tonic of wildness," makes The Maine Woods an especially vital book for our own time.

A Yankee in Canada

by Henry David Thoreau

Published 1 January 1961

In the fall of 1850 Henry David Thoreau embarked upon an excursion into the French-Canadian province of Quebec, with stops in Montreal and Quebec City. His reactions to the foreign country are mixed and ambivalent: he is critical of Canada's Old World Catholicism, feudalism, and an alien British military presence while most of his references to America and Americans are favorable. But if one looks closely, positive reactions to Canadian society and negative reactions to American society do exist within the essay. A Yankee in Canada is a study in paradox, the paradox being due to a man stunned by his only international experience. Unlike the many facsimile reproductions available, this edition features a modern design that enhances readability.--Adapted from publisher's description.