A work like this could not have been made without the help of literally hundreds of people, known and unknown. Many are acknowledged below, but there are many who, I regret, have become anonymous, and for these omissions of credit I apologize. There is generosity and enthusiasm in the world for which I am appreciative, and it is rewarding to know that such dedication and passion exists.
I am indebted to the various Thoreau scholars who have donated their research to the collections of the Walden Woods Project, the Thoreau Society, and the Ralph Waldo Emerson Society. These collections, housed at the Thoreau Institute Library, Lincoln, Massachusetts, and managed by Walden Woods Project, are an invaluable and unparalleled resource, without which this book could not have been completed. And to Don Henley, founder and president of the Walden Woods Project, and to Kathi Anderson, its executive director, for their vision of a center for Thoreau studies, and for the opportunities it has offered, and the doors it has opened, thank you.
For the many chats—Tom Hersey, Whitney Retallic, and Richard Smith—colleagues who have become friends. And to the many students, scholars, and teachers I have met who have asked the questions that led me to write this book.
And my family—my daughters, Kazia and Zoë—and my wife, Julia Berkley, my editor, my confidant, my love, my friend.
And to Jack Shoemaker for asking.
Grateful acknowledgment is made to the following institutions to quote from the following manuscript material:
Emerson, Ralph Waldo. Ralph Waldo Emerson Journals and Notebooks, 1820–1880, MS Am 1280H by permission of the Ralph Waldo Emerson Memorial Association and Houghton Library, Harvard University
Slack, Charles W. Ralph Waldo Emerson to Charles W. Slack, October 31, 1859, Charles W. Slack Papers, American Antiquarian Society