C; viii ] 



Variety has been sought, first of all, in the selection 

 of subjects, though obviously many of Thoreau's 

 favorite themes could not be included, — being be- 

 yond the scope of the camera, — such as the music of 

 the telegraph harp, the crowing of chanticleer, the 

 fragrance of sweet-fern, the chirping of crickets, the 

 flavor of wild apples, the "2-ing" of locusts, etc. In 

 the arrangement of subjects the course of the seasons 

 has been followed, although it has not been possible 

 always to keep an exact succession of dates. 



The quotations are chiefly from the Journal, the 

 page numbers referring to the Walden Edition of 

 1906. It has not been deemed necessary to indicate 

 in every case where an ellipsis occurs. The journal 

 being largely a commonplace-book, Thoreau would 

 occasionally interject comments quite remote from 

 the subject in hand; and therefore, in order to secure 

 greater simplicity and conciseness, sometimes a brief 

 portion of the original journal entry is here omitted. 

 In two or three instances, also, a very slight verbal 

 alteration has been made. 



In reading these journal extracts it should be re- 

 membered that they were never considered by Thor- 

 eau as finished literature. They were frequently writ- 

 ten hurriedly, with his own convenience solely in view, 

 and left for final polishing and arrangement at some 

 later date. Yet this very fact adds a flavor of sin- 

 cerity and piquancy to the journal which would per- 

 haps have been lost in a studied preparation, with 



