Henry D. Thoreau

Thoreau is a resident of Concord, Massachusetts. He describes himself as working as a surveyor and also as a schoolmaster, but only part time. He spends several hours of each day walking through the wilderness, sometimes alone, sometimes with a companion. He is an ardent abolitionist and is asked on more than one occasion to gives addresses at anti-slavery meetings.

At the time the first three essays are published, Thoreau is a rising author beginning to gain some celebrity for his thoughtful celebrations of nature and independent living. As he describes his own position within the community of his hometown, he is often viewed as odd by his fellow citizens for his unusual behavior and way of thinking, but is apparently accepted in his important and useful roles as a surveyor and teacher. He also mentions briefly in "Civil Disobediance" that a group of his neighbors...