Walden’s Birthday
On this day in 1854, Henry David Thoreau’s “Walden” was published. No doubt absent were posters promoting the book, a 15-city book-signing tour, and those little bookmarks given out promoting the book and author (although Henry did try to organize a nation-wide lecture tour which fizzled after only one city responded). Today’s world of book publishing is marketing driven more than it was in Henry’s day. Six years before “Walden’s” publication, Thoreau’s “A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers” publication was a near-complete bust. Thoreau ending up paying for unsold copies which amounted to most of the printing run (if I remember correctly less than 200 sold). “Walden” was imminently more successful, and the first edition was published in a generous run for the day of 2,000 copies, of which 1,700 sold within a few years. A pristine first edition now would fetch close to $20,000 or more.
