EXCURSIONS

Excursions gathers nine essays by Henry David Thoreau, prepared from the most authoritative texts available. Together they trace his writing from 1842, when Emerson asked him to review four volumes of botanical and zoological catalogues, to 1862, the year of "Wild Apples." That final piece began as a lecture given during the Concord Lyceum's 1859 to 1860 season and was sent to the Atlantic Monthly after Thoreau's death.

Three early reflections on the natural world and human nature, "A Winter Walk," "A Walk to Wachusett" and "The Landlord," appeared in 1842 and 1843. They are light in manner and already show the themes and methods that return throughout Thoreau's later work. "A Yankee in Canada" is a full-length account of a journey to Quebec in 1850, partly printed in 1853. It sits alongside Cape Cod and The Maine Woods, his other long accounts of exploring both the outer landscape and the inner one.

The last four essays, written between 1860 and 1862, are "The Succession of Forest Trees," "Autumnal Tints," "Walking" and "Wild Apples." In them Thoreau considers natural and philosophical phenomena with a wide view and an open, generous manner. He starts from closely observed particulars and moves toward general conclusions, which makes the group a clear example of Transcendental natural history. Thoreau is also the author of Walden.