The year 2017 will mark the bicentennial of the birth of Henry David Thoreau. Not unexpectedly, it will also likely be the year in which we shall see a higher than usual number of new books about Thoreau as well as new editions of books by him.
The first one of these that has reached my desk is The Illustrated Walden; Thoreau Bicentennial Edition. While not formally a reproduction of the 1897 two volume “holiday edition” published by Houghton Mifflin, this new Penguin Random House volume includes images of the engravings, daguerrotypes, and photographs that graced that earlier set.
The publication of The Illustrated Walden also serves as a precursor to the publication of another book, this time a new biography of Thoreau by Kevin Dann titled Expect Great Things; The Life and Search of Henry David Thoreau, that is scheduled to be published by Penguin Random House in January of 2017.
