This beautiful illustrated gift edition of the great American classic celebrates its 150"' anniversary. In July 1845, Henry David Thoreau built a small cottage in the woods near Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts. During the two years and two months he spent there, he began to write Walden, his most important work, a chronicle of his communion with nature that became one of the most influential and compelling books in American literature. As the favorite book of generations of readers, Walden has become part of the American landscape. Its message of living simply, in harmony with nature, is needed now more than ever. Michael McCurdy's woodblock engravings bring the text to life and illuminate the spirit ofThoreau's prose.