ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Grateful thanks are extended to all at the Thoreau Society for their support, and to Jeffrey S. Cramer and Jayne Gordon of the Thoreau Institute at Walden Woods and Steve Carlin of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Management for their assistance with the research.
The images on pages 2, 14, 28, 29, 39, 64, 68, 72, 76, 7881, 83, 90, 91, and 93 are courtesy of the Thoreau Society of Lincoln, Massachusetts, and the Thoreau Institute at Walden Woods.
The images on pages 52 and 55 are courtesy of the Raymond Adams Collection of the Thoreau Society and the Thoreau Institute at Walden Woods.
The image on page 64 is courtesy of the Walter Harding Collection of the Thoreau Society and the Thoreau Institute at Walden Woods.
THE THOREAU SOCIETY
Established in 1941, the Thoreau Society is the worlds oldest and largest professional society devoted to the legacy of an American writer. The Thoreau Society adheres to the mission of honoring Henry David Thoreau by stimulating interest in and fostering education about his life, works, and philosophy, and his place in his world and ours; by coordinating research on his life and writings; by acting as a repository for material relevant to Thoreau; and by advocating for the preservation of Thoreau country. The society collaborated with the Walden Woods Project to create the Thoreau Institute at Walden Woods, a research and educational center near Walden Pond. Under an agreement with the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Management (DEM), the society is also the Commonwealths official friends organization for Walden Pond. Through programs that include public education and environmental conservation, the societys Friends of Walden Pond Committee promotes management activities, jointly developed by DEM and the society, that balance resource protection and enhancement with public use and enjoyment at the Walden Pond State Reservation.
For more information about the Thoreau Society and its programs and for membership information, write to the societys administrative offices at 44, Baker Farm, Lincoln, MA 01773, USA, call (781) 259-4750, or e-mail ThoreauSociety@walden.org.
THE WALDEN WOODS PROJECT
A publicly supported charity founded in 1990 by recording artist Don Henley, the Walden Woods Project has evolved into a highly regarded and successful conservation organization dedicated to protecting and restoring land in and around Walden Woods. This area, west of Boston, which inspired much of the philosophy and writings of American author and conservationist Henry David Thoreau, is widely acknowledged to be the cradle of the American environmental movement. The Walden Woods Project is continuing to protect and restore land within this historic ecosystem, and in 1998, opened a research and educational center near Walden Pond. The Thoreau Institute at Walden Woods, a collaboration of the Walden Woods Project and the Thoreau Society, houses the societys incomparable collection of Thoreau-related material, maintains a comprehensive database of information relevant to Thoreau and to land protection and restoration, and offers a wide variety of environmental humanities-based programs for teachers, students, and lifelong learners.
To learn more about the Walden Woods Project and how you can support its mission, or about the Thoreau Institute at Walden Woods and its programs, write to the projects administrative offices at 44, Baker Farm, Lincoln, MA 01773, USA, call (781) 259-4700, or log on to www.walden.org .
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THE POND
A lake is the landscapes most beautiful and expressive feature. It is earths eye; looking into which the beholder measures the depth of his own nature.
Walden Pond, while technically a lake61 acres 103 rods, according to Thoreau himselfis a kettle hole. This means that it is fed from many springs and has no inlet or outlet, which accounts for its amazing clarity and stillness. Thoreaus survey of the pond gives the circumference as 1.7 miles and the greatest depth as 102 feet.
... Nature, who is superior to all styles and ages, is now, with pensive face, composing her poem Autumn, with which no mark of man will bear to be compared.
The beauty of Walden Woods is especially stunning when nature turns the trees into a kaleidoscope of colors during the annual fall spectacular known as autumn. The pond is a haven for people from all over the world who wish to come and absorb the meditative energy that so inspired Thoreau.
If the sun rises on you slumbering, if you do not hear the morning cock-crow, if you do not witness the blushes of Aurora, if you are not acquainted with Venus as the morning star, what relation have you to wisdom and purity?
The essence of the Transcendental movement was the search for God in nature. This groundbreaking group centered on the person of Ralph Waldo Emerson in the nearby town of Concord. Emerson became Thoreaus great friend, inspiration, and mentor, and was instrumental in assisting Thoreau in conducting his experiment at the pond.
If there is nothing new on the earth, still the traveler always has a resource in the skies. They are constantly turning a new page to view.
Thoreau chose Walden Pond for his sojourn in nature because of its tranquility and natural beauty, his observation of which assisted him in his search for and study of divinity. He did not consider his time sitting motionless and observing the natural world to be a waste of his time. This was part of his experiment.
It takes us many years to find out that nature repeats herself annually. But how perfectly regular and calculable all her phenomena must appear to a mind that has observed her for a thousand years.
Across the pond to what is now called Thoreaus Cove, the water reflects the glassy surface of the lake, providing sublime inspiration to Thoreau and all who have followed him. It was on a slope a little above this cove that he built his house on land owned by Emerson.
He is the man trulycourageous, wise, ingeniouswho can use his thoughts and ecstasies as the material of fair and durable creations.