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THOREAU, Henry David : THE MAINE WOODS

Ascensius Press, [Portland, ME], 1998

Folio (7-3/4" x 12-1/4") bound by Gray Parrot in full dark green morocco with a gilt-lettered and ruled brown morocco spine label inlay and Thoreau's signature stamped in black on the front cover. A handsome book produced entirely in Maine with a frontispiece and several small illustrations by Maine artist Jon Luoma, printed on paper handmade in Maine, and bound by Gray Parrot in Maine. Copy #44 of only 45 total copies. Laid into the book is a sheet of paper presenting the book from The Nature Conservancy to a Maine environmentalist. Quickly sold out upon publication. The making of this book was featured in the PBS television series "Made in Maine.", leather, Mild scratches to slipcase. Fine in about Fine slipcase made of solid Maine white pine

THOREAU, Henry David : THE MAINE WOODS

Ticknor & Fields, Boston, 1864

First Edition, Original purple Z cloth. BAL 20113: 1650 copies printed though Borst A4.1.a states that 1450 copies were printed. True first printing with list of Thoreau's books priced. Catalogue dated April 1864 with last leaf advertising "The Thirteenth Volume.", Original cloth, Contents clean. Spine pleasantly sunned, tips a bit frayed, gilt clear. Near Fine and scarce in this condition

THOREAU, Henry David : THE MAINE WOODS

Ticknor & Fields, Boston, 1864

First Edition, Original plum TR cloth. BAL 20113: 1650 copies printed though Borst A4.1.a states that 1450 copies were printed. True first printing with list of Thoreau's books priced. No catalogue bound into this copy. From the library of John Shepard Keyes with his ownership SIGNATURE in ink on the front fly: "John S. Keyes." Keyes was a close friend and classmate of Henry David Thoreau, just a year or two younger. He was also a fellow suitor of Ellen Sewall, who famously declined Thoreau's marriage proposal. Their friendship was often strained for other reasons; about the same time Thoreau was living in his cabin at Walden Pond, Keyes was seeing his father's will through probate-- the largest estate ever probated in Concord up to that time, and soon after he built a grand home near the town center. Keyes became a prominent citizen of Concord, later serving as a judge. Like Thoreau, Keyes was also friends of the Emerson family and kept a diary that echoed many of Thoreau's views of life. But Keyes was less conflicted about getting on in the world, was politically conservative, and openly admitted his philistine leanings. After Thoreau's death he was interviewed from time to time about his dead friend, and like other Concordians, he usually provided a candid and negative account. For the most extended biographies of Keyes, consult THE CONCORD SOCIAL CIRCLE, and Smith, HISTORICAL GUIDE TO HENRY DAVID THOREAU, pages 212-220 et seq. Also see Thoreau, CORRESPONDENCE, pages 192 and 656 for letters of Thoreau mentioning Keyes. Meltzer & Harding, A THOREAU PROFILE, pages 30-31 for a diary entry by Keyes about Thoreau. Association copies of Thoreau's posthumous books are scarce, and this is an important one., Original cloth, Contents clean. Spine sunned, gilt a little dull, and frayed at tips and along edges with a large vertical piece missing but not affecting the lettering

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