Getting Started With Thoreau
Some of Thoreau's nature writing is found online, just a click away at The Thoreau Reader.
There's also a biography of Thoreau: The Life and Times of Henry David Thoreau
An article on Walden: Reflections on Walden
And answers to questions about Thoreau: Thoreau FAQ
Walden
Walden is a true masterpiece and essential reading. It's not only wonderful nature writing. It is a book about how to create a real, meaningful life for yourself. Thoreau lived his philosophy, and he was a free, enlightened, happy man. My favorite edition is the inexpensive Bantam paperback introduced by another great nature writer, Joseph Wood Krutch. Mr. Krutch provides inspirational insights into Thoreau's life and work in a general introduction and in short prefaces to each selection. Complete works included are: A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, Civil Disobedience, Walden, and Life Without Principle. Sample excerpts from The Maine Woods, Cape Cod, and the Journals round out the volume. This is my favorite edition because it includes so many works, it's compact and easy to carry along, and it is so inspirationally annotated. (This Bantam paperback edited by Krutch is ISBN 0-553-21246-X.)
Thoreau's journals are more difficult to find than his other works. Many works use excerpts from his journals. Two inexpensive Dover editions of excerpts are The Heart of Thoreau's Journals and Selections from the Journals.
Two recently edited volumes of Thoreau's nature writing are Faith in a Seed and Wild Fruits. These excellent books are in paperback and present some of Thoreau's best journal-type nature writing.