Winner of the 2004 NOBA (National Outdoor Book Award) for "Outdoor Classic"
Co-winner of the Boston Authors Club 2005 Julia Ward Howe Special Award
University Press Bestseller (October 2004) (from Academia, An Online Magazine and Resource for Academic Librarians)
Short-listed by the Association of American University Presses for The Best of the Best of the University Presses
Reviews
"There is nothing like this — within the covers of one book — in the world of Thoreau scholarship. The book is fascinating . . . accurate and minute in its scholarship. It amounts to a Thoreau encyclopedia in one volume!" — Joel Porte, author of Consciousness and Culture: Emerson and Thoreau Reviewed
"Cramer’s notes are immensely useful. His edition of Walden will be a boon to ordinary readers and scholars alike." — Denis Donoghue, author of Speaking of Beauty
“A handsome ‘all-things-Walden’ edition, copiously annotated by Jeffrey S. Cramer, curator of collections at the Thoreau Institute at Walden Woods.” — Michael Kenney, Boston Sunday Globe
“Cramer’s side notes are like short, illuminating conversations.” — Jacqueline Blais, USA Today
“Readers will be intrigued by Cramer’s wide-ranging commentary and new bibliographical and historical background including stunning passages from Thoreau’s Journal and letters.” — Richard Higgins, UU World
“Cramer’s [book] not only cleans up errors that have crept into previous texts but also adds biographical and historical context to Thoreau’s life.” — Julia Keller, Greensboro News & Record
“For those who aspire to a deeper understanding of the man and his milieu, the annotated Walden, edited by Jeffrey S. Cramer, is the edition to choose.” — Allan D. Smith, Trenton Times
“[An] authoritative text with generous annotations.” — Forecast
“A definitive text. . . . With Cramer’s notes, readers and re-readers will find the text both deeper and more accessible.” — Julie Dunlap, Audubon Naturalist News
"The most authoritative edition of Walden yet to appear, an edition supported by the most extensive and useful annotations ever offered. Presenting the text and annotations in a side-by-side format, this is the best edition of the book for scholars because it not only includes annotations of just about everything in the text but also presents the most perfect text of Walden. Essential. All collections; all levels.” — Choice
"Meticulous and often fascinating annotations. . . . It is the paradox of Walden, and of all great literature that seeks to represent the real world, that by rooting his narrative so firmly in actualities of his own time and place, Thoreau created a work that remains vitally relevant to our own.” — Robert Finch, Los Angeles Times
"Cramer [identifies] . . . the terms, books, people, and ideas as they were understood in the nineteenth century, with extensive parallel commentary from Thoreau's journals and letters. The effect is like having Thoreau himself at our side to gloss the reading." — Robert D. Habich, The New England Quarterly