TOWARD THE MAKING OF THOREAU’S MODERN REPUTATION, edited by Fritz Oehlschlaeger and George Hendrick, University of Illinois Press, 1979 pp. xix, 413 $22.50
This wonderful book is worth every cent of its price; a statement not often true in this period of inflated costs. Whether the reader has been teaching Thoreau for 25 years or has written books and articles about him or has read widely in this field, it is a must. Based on correspondence by 5 men who loved and appreciated Thoreau, the book uncovers so many mistakes and so much misinterpretation about the life and works of the Concord Poet-Naturalist that the reader is often tempted to cheer and to applaud as if at the theater. The generous introduction lays out in lucid style the background of the cause and its protagonists. The villains of the piece include Sanborn, Emerson, Lowell, Stevenson and lesser lights who persist in trying to make Thoreau into something he was not. The champions are Dr. Samuel Arthur Jones, homeopathic physician from Michigan, Alfred Hosmer, photographer of Concord, some 20 of whose pictures enhance the book, Henry Salt, Thoreau’s early British biographer described as “a reformer with a sense of humor, a scholar with a social conscience, a visionary socialist.” Just offstage are Daniel Ricketson of New Bedford, Thoreau’s hypochondriac Quaker, and H. G. O. Blake of Worcester, editor of the seasonal Journal volumes, who called Thoreau “the most interesting man I have ever known.”
Ranging in time from November 1889 to March 1907, a series of remarkable letters was written and exchanged between these friends of Henry Thoreau. The main questioner and prodder was Dr. Jones who had written a lecture called “Thoreau: A Glimpse” which he had printed and which was read by one of the daughters of Thoreau’s farmer friend Edmund Hosmer. She put Jones in touch with Alfred Hosmer and that was the beginning of a long friendship which included one meeting (1890 in Concord) and many letters, virtually all of which have in them some valuable information or comment of interest to any Thoreau enthusiast. Not the least result of this collaboration was the Thoreau bibliography prepared by Dr. Jones and published in the 1896 biography by Henry Salt. Francis Allen, Houghton Mifflin editor whose Bibliography of Henry David Thoreau appeared in 1908, wrote, “The only bibliographies of Thoreau of any interest or importance to the student or the collector are those by Dr. Samuel A. Jones.” This enthusiastic, kindhearted man, capable of sharp criticism and biting sarcasm one minute and expressions of great tenderness and concern the next, was determined to get at the truth of Thoreau ‘s character and the traits and personal strengths passed on to him by his parents. He suspected the veracity of Sanborn’s opinions of these matters and crusaded to correct them. In so doing he made an almost immeasurable contribution to Thoreau scholarship and will continue to do so for every reader of this well-edited book. It was a lucky day for all of us when Professor Hendrick discovered the collection of Jones letters. The meticulous methods used by him and by his able co-editor Fritz Oehlschlaeger bring credit to them and to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Don’t miss it!
The Concord Saunterer, Vol. 15 No. 2, Summer 1980, p. 21-2
Book Reviewed: Toward the Making of Thoreau’s Modern Reputation