""In hundreds of dated entries, Thoreau reported on the natural and social world as he saw it. His interest ranged over an incredibly wide area: birds and flowers, Greek classics, writing as an art, mammals, early Americana, Oriental literature, grasses; and his Journal includes them all. We can read his views on slavery and on the problem of the individual's relation to the State, views that every day become more pertinent. Furthermore, the Journal is still an untapped mine of information on mid-19th century American word usage, folklore, regional proverbs and social mores."--Jacket."
"Réunit des pensées, des poèmes et des notes consignés pendant vingt-quatre ans par H.D. Thoreau (1817-1862), inspirés par ses réflexions sur la nature, la place de l'homme dans le monde, etc. Des photographies et dessins contemporains ponctuent ce texte."
"Henry David Thoreaus Journal was his lifes work: the daily practice of writing that accompanied his daily walks, the workshop where he developed his books and essays, and a project in its own rightone of the most intensive explorations ever made of the everyday environment, the revolving seasons, and the changing self. It is a treasure trove of some of the finest prose in English and, for those acquainted with it, its prismatic pages exercise a hypnotic fascination. Yet at roughly seven thousand pages, or two million words, it remains Thoreaus least-known work."