Walden’s Birthday
On this day in 1854, Henry David Thoreau’s “Walden” was published. No doubt absent were posters promoting the book, a 15-city book-signing tour, and those little bookmarks given out promoting the book and author (although Henry did try to organize a nation-wide lecture tour which fizzled after only one city responded). Today’s world of book publishing is marketing driven more than it was in Henry’s day. Six years before “Walden’s” publication, Thoreau’s “A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers” publication was a near-complete bust. Thoreau ending up paying for unsold copies which amounted to most of the printing run (if I remember correctly less than 200 sold). “Walden” was imminently more successful, and the first edition was published in a generous run for the day of 2,000 copies, of which 1,700 sold within a few years. A pristine first edition now would fetch close to $20,000 or more.
I read some of Thoreau’s works in high school, undoubtedly the only literary figure that held much interest for me. My senior English teacher was a Thoreau fanatic, a fact playing no small part in the A+ I received for my paper “Walden and Thoreau” (I must confess it was the only grade above a B I ever received in English-anything throughout high school). I didn’t keep the paper, unfortunately, but the lesson learned was definitely to first discover a teacher/professor’s pet subject before committing to a paper’s direction. That approach is fraught with danger though: while you may receive grace for choosing a subject close to the professor’s heart, you’re also submitting to an expert in your paper’s subject.
On a visit to Boston in the early 90s I was fortunate enough to catch the train out to Concord and walk the distance to Walden Pond. Like most literary shrines, the real thing doesn’t have the same impact as reading what’s seen and felt through a beloved author’s eye. But after spending some time circumnavigating the pond, I began to feel some of the serenity and allure that Henry did. Anti-simplicity icons of civilization around Walden Pond, from the train tracks abutting the pond at one end to the bathhouse and swimming area at the other, do limit one’s ability to feel distanced from our out-of-control world. But even those can be overcome if one settles in to a place and begins to accept the natural instead, filtering out those unnatural distractions. I left wanting to return some day and spend more than the few hours I had, to see if a more serious commune with the spirit of Walden Pond might reveal some of the serenity and simplicity inherent in Henry’s choice words.
“I learned this, at least, by my experiment: that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” – Henry David Thoreau, Walden
If you’re interested in Thoreau, check out The Blog of Henry David Thoreau offering a daily entry from his journals.
One Response to “Walden’s Birthday”
When I was fifteen I typed that quote onto a small piece of paper and taped it to the desk of my first job. I read it everyday for 15 years. It didn’t make it to my final “head honcho” office where I ended up failing miserably.