Henry Thoreau's Desk

Concord, MA

A simple green desk made in Concord, Massachusetts, in about 1838 by a cabinetmaker who charged perhaps one dollar for it, had a career in America’s intellectual history entirely out of proportion to its humble origin, because it was Henry Thoreau’s desk. Thoreau is best known as the author of "Walden," universally acknowledged to be one of the great books of American literature, and of “Civil Disobedience,” one of the most influential essays in the worldwide democratic tradition. Both were written at this desk. A cornerstone of the Concord Museum collection, the desk has become a treasured American icon.

Carol