The first and most frequently read of the three autobiographies by former slave and impassioned abolitionist Frederick Douglass (1818-1895). He provides graphic descriptions of his childhood and horrifying experiences as a slave as well as a harrowing record of his dramatic escape to the North and eventual freed. This is an unabridged and slightly corrected republication of the work first published in Boston in 1845. Includes a preface by William Lloyd Garrison and a letter by Wendell Phillips.
Dover Publications, 1995. Paperback, 76 pp.

A collection of writings by and about strident antislavery leader John Brown (1800-1859). Contents: A lengthy selection of letters written by Brown ; "Letter to the Editor" / Victor Hugo ; "With a Rose" / Louisa May Alcott ; "The Portent" / Herman Melville ; "John Brown" / Ralph Waldo Emerson ; "The Last Days of John Brown" / Henry David Thoreau ; "John Brown" / Frederick Douglass ; "Osawatomie" / Carl Sandburg ; "John Brown's Prayer" / Stephen Vincent Benet ; "The Blow," "The Riddle of the Sphinx," and "The Legacy of John Brown," by W. E. B. DuBois.
Dover Publications, 2021. Paperback, 246 pp.

A succinct look at the life of American author and naturalist John Muir (1838-1914). Penned by The Thoreau Society's own Richard Smith. SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR.
Benna Books / Applewood Books, 2018. Hardcover, 28 pp.

John Muir's exuberance for nature was the touchstone for his commitment to the earth and all its creatures. As naturalist, writer, and activist, Muir shaped the spiritual and physical boundaries of some of our most treasured national parks. Editor Chris Highland pairs 60 insightful Muir quotes with selections from other celebrated thinkers and spiritual texts. Let Muir's words enrich your experience as you ponder the wilderness from river bank, mountain top, or as you relax beside your campfire under night stars.
Wilderness Press, 2001. Paperback, 5 x 7 inch format, 145 pp.

A collection of about 100 quotes from John Muir, complete with attributions of original sources. Collected and edited by The Thoreau Society's own Richard Smith.
Applewood Books, 2018. Hardcover, 32 pp.

Read Frederick Douglass's impassioned speech on the subject of slavery and patriotism.
Applewood Books, 2023. Hardcover, 60 pp.

A selection of key quotations from former slave and 19th-century activist Frederick Douglass (1817-1895). Includes a two-page biography.
Applewood Books, 2024. Hardcover, 32 pp.

A blend of tea inspired by the writings of Walt Whitman.
Created of organic green tea, organic ginger roote, organic lemon peel, organic eleuthero root, organic lemongrass, and natural lemon flavor. This four-ounce tin of loose tea will make about 50 cups of tea. From our friends at Simpson & Vail.

A blend of tea inspired by Emily Dickinson's poetry and love of flowers.
Created of jasmine tea, rose petals, jasmine blossoms, marigold petals, and blue cornflower petals. This four-ounce tin of loose tea will make about 50 cups of
tea. From our friends at Simpson & Vail.

A blend of tea inspired by Frederick Douglass's commitment to equality and inclusion. Created of black teas from India, Vietnam, Kenya, China, and Indonesia. This four ounce tin of loose tea will make about 50 cups of
tea. From our friends at Simpson & Vail.

Presents an informative and richly considered exploration of the paradox of a man steeped in the Bible but more than willing to kill for his abolitionist cause. Locates John Brown within the currents of nineteenth century life and compares him to modern terrorists, civil rights activists, and freedom fighters. This is a vivid and startling story of a man and an age on the verge of calamity.
Vintage Books, 2005. Paperback, 578 pp.

A beautiful anthology of Edgar Allan Poe's stories and poems. Complete with gilt edges all around. For the Poe fan in your circle!
Canterbury Classics, 2011. Hardcover, 274 pp.

This book is intended to reorient our understanding of transcendentalism: to help us see the movement as a far more collaborative and interactive project between women and men than is commonly understood. It recounts the lives of Mary Moody Emerson, Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, Sophia Peabody Hawthorne, Lydia Jackson Emerson, and Margaret Fuller as they developed crucial ideas about the self, nature, and feeling even as they pushed their male counterparts to consider the rights of enslaved people of color and women. Many ideas once considered original to Emerson and Thoreau are shown to have originated with women who had little opportunity to publicly express them. Together, these five women helped form the foundations of American feminism.
Oxford University Press, 2024. Hardcover, 405 pp.

This colorfully illustrated book reevaluates Christopher Pearse Cranch's career as a Hudson River School artist and considers his landscape paintings within the larger context of American culture.
Lyman Allyn Art Museum / University Press of New England, 2007. Paperback, 196 pp.

In the 1840s, America was a land of utopian promise, and nowhere captured this spirit of possibility better than Concord, Massachusetts. At the heart of this intellectual and cultural revolution was Ralph Waldo Emerson, a national celebrity who brought together a circle of bold and creative free thinkers. In The Emerson Circle, Bruce Nichols delivers a fascinating narrative of this transformative era, breathing life into the friendships and philosophies that comprised the titanic intellectual energy of this American Renaissance.

Concord wasn’t just a town; it was a crucible of innovation and reform. Luminaries such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Margaret Fuller, Louisa May Alcott, and Henry David Thoreau gathered there, united by ideas that would shape the nation. Nichols recreates this vibrant world, packed with brilliant conversations, emotional correspondences, and the essays, novels, speeches, and poetry that forever marked and changed American culture. Along the way, he shares intimate, surprising details—Thoreau’s frustration with Emerson, Hawthorne’s intense shyness masking deep love and hate—that make these iconic figures human.

This book captures a forgotten utopian moment in our history. Anything seemed possible: abolishing property, money, and marriage, not just slavery; granting equal rights to women; eating vegan diets; banning alcohol and caffeine. These men and women turned away from the Bible in favor of the natural world and science, and they inspired our greatest early writers to create their most original and lasting works.

With vivid storytelling and thought-provoking insights, Bruce Nichols invites us to reimagine the power of ideas to change the world—just as Emerson and his circle did nearly two centuries ago.
Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster, 2026. Hardcover, 368 pp.

Three of Stowe's books in one handy volume: Uncle Tom's Cabin, The Minister's Wooing, and Oldtown Folks. Includes chronology.
Library of America, 1982. Hardcover, 1478 pp.