Botanical Index to the Journal of Henry David Thoreau

By Ray Angelo

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• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0879051825
• ISBN13: 9780879051822
• Release Date: January 1984
• Publisher: Gibbs Smith
• Length: 203 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.

Customer Reviews

An indispensable resource for Thoreau researchers

This handy little paperback is certainly a time-saver for anyone studying the nature writings of Henry David Thoreau. Ray Angelo has combed the standard 14 volumes of Thoreau's Journal in search of references to flowers, trees, and other vascular plants. (Mosses, lichens, mushrooms, and fungi are not included.) This index lists the plants by common name and by Latin name. [The savvy researcher might want to know both names ahead of time. Cross-references between the two are used, and the common name entries seem to provide the most "hits." But it's probably a good idea to look under both.] Entries direct the user to the volume and page numbers of the standard 1906 publication of the Journal. In order to make the most of this book, you have to have access to a copy of the Journal as well. But this work represents more than mere indexing of words. Ray Angelo took the time to do it right. If an organism's Latin name has changed since Thoreau's time, he noted it. If the common name of a plant has changed, he noted it. If a former variation of a species is now a separate one in its own right, he noted it. If Thoreau might have used a name in a different way, Angelo figured it out. He standardized spellings as well. It took a botanist to assemble this information, and Ray Angelo leads his field. His essay "Thoreau as Botanist," included in this volume, reveals even more details about the transcendental naturalist's botanical studies. Angelo is known as the person who located the site where Thoreau found the rare "climbing fern." He recently co-authored "The Atlas of New England Flora." The Princeton editions of the Journal, still in various stages of ongoing publication, include detailed indexes with each volume. But you have to look in the back of each book in order to locate specific references. Angelo's index will continue to provide a shortcut and a competent starting point for researchers and quote-seekers alike.