A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers

First edition of Henry David Thoreau’s first book, an account of the 1839 river journey he undertook with his brother, blending travel narrative with Transcendentalist reflections. One of the first 550 bound copies. In publisher's presentation binding of full brown cloth stamped in blind with ornamentation within a 5-rule frame and with gilt lettering on the spine. 8 x 5.25 inches; 413, [3] pages, including publisher's advertisement for Walden on final leaf. Contemporary owner signature on front free endpaper. From the collection of Arthur Williams Hall (1873-1952) of Massachusetts, bibliophile and manufacturer of laboratory equipment, with his notes in pencil on the front pastedown; thence by descent through three generations, before entering the trade. Binding neatly repaired and recased, probably in early 20th-century, with moderate edgewear, mending to spine ends, a horizontal slit across the spine about 1-inch from the tail, and a second set of pastedowns added over the originals. Interior with scattered foxing, staining to endpapers; title page and following leaf unopened at top edge. About Very Good. Reference: Blanck, J. Bibliography of American literature, 20104. …