Robert F. Sayre

Thoreau turned toward Indians in his writing as well as in his life, and this book traces the long and arduous process by which his ideas about Indians evolved from savagist stereotypes to attitudes of greater originality. Originally published in 1977. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Thoreau and the American Indians

Elizabeth Hall Witherell

Here, in one volume for the first time, are the most important works of Henry David Thoreau, America's greatest nature writer and a political thinker of worldwide influence. A landmark in American literature, Walden is at once a personal declaration of independence, a social experiment, a manual of self-reliance, and a masterpiece of style. The Maine Woods combines close observation of the unexplored Maine wilderness with a far-sighted plea for conservation. Including "Civil Disobedience," "Walking," and "Life Without Principle," the 27 essays gathered here reflect Thoreau's speculative and probing cast of mind. In his poems, presented here in versions from his journals and manuscripts, Thoreau gave voice to his private sentiments and spiritual aspirations in the plain style of New England speech.

A Library of America College Edition

Henry David Thoreau: Walden, The Maine Woods, Collected Essays and Poems

American Lives is a groundbreaking book, the first historically organized anthology of American autobiographical writing, bringing us fifty-five voices from throughout the nation's history, from Abigail Adams, Abraham Lincoln, Jonathan Edwards, and Richard Wright to Quaker preacher Elizabeth Ashbridge, con man Stephen Burroughs, and circus impresario P.T. Barnum. Representing canonical and non-canonical writers, slaves and slave-owners, generals and conscientious objectors, scientists, immigrants, and Native Americans, the pieces in this collection make up a rich gathering of American "songs of ourselves." Robert F. Sayre frames the selections with an overview of theory and criticism of autobiography and with commentary on the relation between history and many kinds of autobiographical texts--travel narratives, stories of captivity, diaries of sexual liberation, religious conversions, accounts of political disillusionment, and discoveries of ethnic identity. With each selection Sayre also includes an extensive headnote providing valuable critical and biographical information. A scholarly and popular landmark, American Lives is a book for general readers and for teachers, students, and every American scholar.

An Anthology of Autobiographical Writing

American Lives

Emory Elliot

This review of Thoreau's classic contains a short biography of the author, an account of the writing of Walden, and a summary of other critical views.

Robert F. Sayre

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