Past and Present
Thomas Carlyle (1795 - 1881)
Category
Books
Date
1843
Materials
Paper
Order this imageCollection
Carlyle's House, London
NT 3013842
Caption
A faint pencil inscription on the flyleaf of the first American edition of Thomas Carlyle’s Past and Present arguably provides it with the most important US association of any National Trust book. It was given to Henry David Thoreau (1817-62) by Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-82). Thoreau and Emerson were two of the most prominent 19thcentury American writers, and leading figures in the philosophical movement known as transcendentalism. Both were influenced by the Scottish writer Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881), through whom they were introduced to European philosophers. Emerson visited Carlyle at his Chelsea home and edited the Boston edition of the book - a critical comparison between medieval and 19th-century England. This book may have accompanied Thoreau during the most famous period of his life: his experiment in simple living on the edge of Walden Pond, near Concord, Massachusetts in 1845-7. There, he wrote a celebratory essay on Carlyle, describing Past and Present as 'at once idyllic, narrative, heroic; a beautiful restoration of a past age'. This text is reproduced from 100 Books from the Libraries of the National Trust (2023) published through the National Trust's Cultural Heritage Publishing programme.
Summary
Henry David Thoreau's personal copy of Past and Present by Thomas Carlyle, given to him by its editor, Ralph Waldo Emerson. Presented to Carlyle's House by Charles Goodspeed.
Bibliographic description
vi, 296 p. ; 12mo. Provenance: pencil inscription on upper endleaf: "Henry D. Thoreau [i.e. Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)] from R.W.E.[i.e. Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)]"; anecdotal evidence of later ownership by Sarah Richardson and C. Goodspeed, who presented the book to Carlyle's House. Binding: brown printed wrapper, as issued; some loss of wrapper on spine.
Makers and roles
Thomas Carlyle (1795 - 1881), author Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) , editor Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862), owner