Page:Thoreau - His Home, Friends and Books (1902).djvu/184

158 bore doggedly upon his back to his attic study, declaring that he had now a library of "nearly nine hundred volumes, over seven hundred of which I wrote myself." To-day, the 1861 edition of "A Week," published by Ticknor, commands a fabulous price. It contains on a fly-leaf at the end, an announcement, "To Appear Soon, 'Walden' by the same Author." As "Walden" was published in 1854, this amusing and telltale oversight discloses the fact that the later publishers bought those seven hundred copies and sold them as part of this later edition.

No one can question that Thoreau's sensitive heart was hurt by this early rebuff in authorship yet he applied nobly his philosophy of complacency and contentment. It was not pure stoicism or egotism that called forth the words,—"Indeed, I believe that this result is more inspiring and better than if a thousand had bought my wares. It affects my privacy less and leaves me freer." A man of less courage and confidence in his powers might have here ended his literary career. Thoreau, however, had prepared with care, and with greater variety and uniqueness of theme, his experiences at Walden. This was published by Ticknor in 1854. Some unpleasant, distorted strictures upon the volume appeared, but criticism, in the main, was