"In hundreds of dated entries, Thoreau reported on the natural and social world as he saw it. His interest ranged over an incredibly wide area: birds and flowers, Greek classics, writing as an art, mammals, early Americana, Oriental literature, grasses; and his Journal includes them all. We can read his views on slavery and on the problem of the individual's relation to the State, views that every day become more pertinent. Furthermore, the Journal is still an untapped mine of information on mid-19th century American word usage, folklore, regional proverbs and social mores."--Jacket.