Life of Henry David Thoreau

Henry Salt abandoned his mastership at Eton in the 1880s to devote himself to causes including vegetarianism, socialism, animals' rights, conservation, and prison reform. He remained a literary critic of distinction, publishing in 1890 the initial version of Thoreau's Life. With the help of American friends, he revised the book and published it anew in 1896. This third version, never before published, gives us Salt's final reading of Thoreau based on important works published up to 1908, including Thoreau's complete Journal. Combining a concise narrative of Thoreau's life with a perceptive treatment of his ideas and writings, it stands as a penetrating study of Thoreau, stressing his distinctive individuality. Through analysis of the text and a concise biography, the editors illustrate Salt's growth as a scholar and his changing views on Thoreau and Thoreau's philosophy. The introduction details Salt's significant stylistic improvements to the 1908 edition as well as the inclusion of anecdotes and facts gathered from Samuel Arthur Jones, F.B. Sanborn, Ernest W. Vickers, Raymond Adams, Fred Hosmer, and Gandhi. This volume is made complete with Salt's updated bibliography and an index by the editors. It will appeal to scholars of Thoreau and to readers interested in Thoreau, American Transcendentalism, or American literature.

Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Nonfiction. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.