1899 Scarce Victorian Book - WALDEN or Life in the Woods by Henry David Thoreau.

 

Author: Henry David Thoreau.
Title: WALDEN or Life in The Woods.
Language: Text in English.
Publisher: Philadelphia, Henry Altemus Company. no date (circa 1899). 
Size: 6.5 " X 4.5 ".
Pages:  375 pages + catalogue.
Binding: Scarce attractive and very good richly decorated green cloth with blind-stamped Art Nouveau floral design in gilt, red and pink to front board and spine. Gilt on spine faded (hinges fine, overall slightly scuffed and worn- as shown) under a removable protective mylar cover.  
Content: Very good content (bright, tight, and clean, rare light foxing or staining - as shown, the first endpaper with a gift inscription, dated 1901 - as shown). 
Illustration: Complete with the nice frontispiece portrait of Henry David Thoreau and the extra title page.

The book: Scarce in this binding, this is an Altemus' 19th-century edition of Walden (first published as Walden; or, Life in the Woods) -- a book by noted transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau. The text is a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings. The work is part personal declaration of independence, social experiment, voyage of spiritual discovery, satire, and (to some degree) manual for self-reliance.

The author: Henry David Thoreau (July 12, 1817 – May 6, 1862) was an American essayist, poet, philosopher, abolitionist, naturalist, tax resister, development critic, surveyor, and historian. A leading transcendentalist, Thoreau is best known for his book Walden, a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings, and his essay "Civil Disobedience" (originally published as "Resistance to Civil Government"), an argument for disobedience to an unjust state.