Touring Walden

August 9: Henry David Thoreau’s Walden was published on this day in 1854. Thoreau planned a lecture tour, hoping to showcase his new book, but he was forced to cancel because of disinterest. This was mutual, judging by his journal: “To read to a promiscuous audience…the fine thoughts you solaced yourself with far away is as violent as to fatten geese by cramming, and in this case they do not get fatter.”