Summer Reading: Thoreau's Cape Cod

With the solstice just a couple of weeks away, we're compiling a list of books we hope to read this summer. At the top of the list is Cape Cod: Illustrated Edition of the American Classic, by Henry David Thoreau, with photographs by Scot Miller (2008).

Here’s a description of the book: “Originally published in 1865, Henry David Thoreau's Cape Cod is a wonderfully written, surprisingly funny account of nineteenth-century life on the Cape well before it became a major tourist attraction. To this day, many people consider it the best book ever written about Cape Cod. This new illustrated volume features the complete text of Thoreau's classic work as published in Houghton Mifflin's 1906 edition, the stunning photography of Scot Miller, and a foreword from the preeminent Thoreau biographer, Robert Richardson. Many of the lush color photographs show elements of the landscape that Thoreau would have seen: the great beach, imposing cliffs, sand dunes, beautiful sunrises and sunsets, beach grass, seaweed; others reflect the unique personality of Cape Cod and its people today, including local artists and architecture. The combination of Thoreau's timeless text and Miller's exquisitely reproduced color photographs make this an indispensable book for anyone who loves Thoreau's writing or Cape Cod.”

For more background information about Thoreau and his Cape Cod, see "Thoreau Walks the Cape," an article published in American Heritage magazine back in 1987.

Fans of Thoreau might also consider reading these two books: In The Footsteps of Thoreau: 25 Historic & Nature Walks on Cape Cod, by Adam Gamble (1997); and Traces of Thoreau: a Cape Cod Journey, by Stephen Mulloney (1998).

Somewhat related, the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History in Brewster is holding a natural history book sale this Saturday morning , June 7, 2008. "This special sale will include contributions from members, a superb collection of recent gardening books AND a huge pile of 'Oldies But Still Goodies' from the Clarence Hay Library."