Henry David Thoreau in Context Literature in Context Series

Well known for his contrarianism and solitude, Henry David Thoreau was nonetheless deeply responsive to the world around him. His writings bear the traces of his wide-ranging reading, travels, political interests, and social influences. Henry David Thoreau in Context brings together leading scholars of Thoreau and nineteenth-century American literature and culture and presents original research, valuable synthesis of historical and scholarly sources, and innovative readings of Thoreau's texts. Across thirty-four chapters, this collection reveals a Thoreau deeply concerned with and shaped by a diverse range of environments, intellectual traditions, social issues, and modes of scientific practice. Essays also illuminate important posthumous contexts and consider the specific challenges of contextualizing Thoreau today. This collection provides a rich understanding of Thoreau and nineteenth-century American literature, political activism, and environmentalist thinking that will be a vital resource for students, teachers, scholars, and general readers.

List of illustrations; List of contributors; Preface James S. Finley; Acknowledgements; Chronology Jeffrey S. Cramer; List of abbreviations and textual note; Part I. Geographic Contexts: 1. Concord Leslie Perrin Wilson; 2. Walden Pond and Walden Woods Kent C. Ryden; 3. Boston and Worcester Wesley T. Mott; 4. Maine Stan Tag; 5. The journey west: Minnesota Corinne H. Smith; Part II. Intellectual and Literary Contexts: 6. Classics Albena Bakratcheva; 7. Medievalism Kathleen Coyne Kelly; 8. The religious horizon Alan D. Hodder; 9. Romanticism Samantha C. Harvey; 10. Transcendentalism David Faflik; 11. Print culture Jonathan Senchyne; 12. The literature of travel William Stowe; 13. Translation François Specq; 14. Odd man in: Thoreau, the Lyceum movement, and the lecture circuit Ronald Wesley Hoag; Part III. Cultural and Political Contexts: 15. Capitalism Andrew Kopec; 16. Technology Laura Dassow Walls; 17. Politics Daniel S. Malachuk; 18. Slavery and abolition Sandra Harbert Petrulionis; 19. Native America John J. Kucich; 20. Warrior culture Larry J. Reynolds; 21. Diet and vegetarianism Kathryn Dolan; Part IV. Scientific and Environmental Contexts: 22. Natural history Hadley Leach; 23. Racial science Cristin Ellis; 24. Physical science Robert M. Thorson; 25. Phenology Kristen Case; 26. Animals Michelle C. Neely; 27. Evolution William Rossi; Part V. Several More Lives to Lead: Thoreau's Legacies: 28. The challenge of Thoreau's biography Ronald A. Bosco; 29. The evolution of Thoreau's reputation Richard J. Schneider; 30. Thoreau, Stanley Cavell, and American philosophy David M. Robinson; 31. Contemporary poetics Alexandra Manglis; 32. The patron saint of tiny houses April Anson; 33. The modern environmental movement Michael Ziser; 34. Popular culture Carl H. Sederholm; Further reading; Index.

James S. Finley is Assistant Professor of English at Texas A & M University. A former editor of The Thoreau Society Bulletin, he has published multiple essays on Henry David Thoreau on topics including environmentalism, abolitionism, and The Maine Woods. In 2014, he participated in the 150th Thoreau-Wabanaki Tour, a retracing of Thoreau's 1857 journey through northern Maine. In 2017, he served on the faculty of a National Endowment for the Humanities Landmarks of American History seminar: 'Living and Writing Deliberately: The Concord Landscapes and Legacy of Henry David Thoreau'. He has received fellowships from the American Antiquarian Society and The Thoreau Society.