Thoreau’s World
Thoreau’s Spyglass
Thoreau preferred to observe nature
with the naked eye, not through a lens.
It was after much internal debate
that he decided to spend $8.00
— a rare splurge—
on this spyglass in the spring of 1854.
He was delighted
with his enhanced ability
to study bird behaviors
and other natural phenomena.

Thoreau did have a curious mind and one that wanted to understand if you tugged at one thread of the universe, right, what else would come up with it…

Laura Dassow Walls, Historian

His experiments, his observations, his writings and even his later more scientific essays were all devoted to what we would call ecological science, the study of relationships, including most innovatively, the study of forest succession, right in the forests around his home in Concord.

Laura Dassow Walls, Historian
Would it not be well to carry a spy glass in order to watch these shy birds– such as ducks and hawks?
Henry David Thoreau
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Who was Thoreau?

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) observed and wrote expansively about the natural world. In 1845, he went to live in a house by Walden Pond “to front only the essential facts of life.” His most productive period as a writer began during the two years he spent living deliberately in the woods.

Thoreau’s name has become synonymous with two themes: love of nature and uncompromising ethical values. Thoreau believed that the attempt to understand human concerns in the context of nature helped provide guidance for the proper conduct of life. He directed his career as a writer toward making that realization possible for others.

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