On this day in 1854, Henry David Thoreau’s book Walden; or, Life in the Woods was published. Thoreau’s most famous work details his experiences living near Concord’s Walden Pond in a cabin built on a woodlot owned by his friend and mentor, Ralph Waldo Emerson.

This inaugural blog post shares a biographical profile of Ralph Waldo Emerson on the occasion of his 217th birthday.