A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers

8vo. A scarce 1st Edition, 1st Printing copy of Thoreau's first book, printed at his own expense and one of just 550 copies bound before unsold copies, including 450 copies of unbound sheets, were returned to Thoreau in 1853 due to lack of sales. 413pp, with the ad for Walden: "Soon to be published" at the end. Bound in publisher's original brown cloth, ruled in blind with titling in gilt to spine. Square tight binding. Clean interior, save for front endpaper with contemporary ownership information in iron gall ink, diagonally clipped. This copy features all 1st Edition points of issue (Borst), including the three missing lines at the bottom of page 396 (printer's error), as well as the misprints on pages 120, 139, and 403. Brown cloth along spine with small chips, including along crown of spine, and closed tears. Two short, closed tears to cloth horizontally across spine. Sporadic light foxing. Mild rubbing and edge wear. Borst-A.1.1.a.