Thoreau the Land Surveyor

by Patrick Chura

"An insightful study of how Thoreau's profession as a surveyor impacts his environmental sensibility and informs his literary works; further, Chura shows that the manuscript surveys and corresponding field notes are themselves worthy of literary analysis. "--Sandra Harbert Petrulionis, coeditor of More Day to Thoreau’s Walden for the Twenty-first Century

“Chura's thorough understanding of the cultural import and physical practice of 19th-century surveying provides a fresh and interesting perspective on Thoreau's life and works. . . . .He combines a spry writing style with meticulous research in this delightful book, which introduces readers to another side of Thoreau's life and thought. Highly recommended.”  -- G. D. MacDonald, Virginia State University                                   “Most books about Henry David Thoreau focus on his writing, philosophy, or literary vision, paying little attention to how he made a living while engaged in such transcendentalist pursuits. In Thoreau the Land Surveyor, Patrick Chura corrects this oversight.” --Lorianne DiSabato, The New England Quarterly "A scholarly book that's as beautiful as it is unput-downable. . . Not only is Chura a fine writer here, he is one heck of a historian. He enriches every page with carefully considered research. . . .I loved this book from start to finish." --Mike Tidwell, author of The Ponds of An African Sojourn. "An insightful study of how Thoreau's profession as a surveyor impacts his environmental sensibility and informs his literary works; further, Chura shows that the manuscript surveys and corresponding field notes are themselves worthy of literary analysis. "This book on the significance of land surveying to Henry Thoreau’s writing is one that we have long needed. Chura's practical experience as a surveyor combined with his literary scholarship makes him the perfect person to write it." -- Richard J. Schneider, editor of Henry David A Documentary Volume Henry David Thoreau, one of America’s most prominent environmental writers, supported himself as a land surveyor for much of his life, parceling land that would be sold off to loggers. In the only study of its kind, Patrick Chura analyzes this seeming contradiction to show how the best surveyor in Concord combined civil engineering with civil disobedience.
    Placing Thoreau's surveying in historical context, Thoreau the Land Surveyor explains the cultural and ideological implications of surveying work in the mid-nineteenth century. Chura explains the ways that Thoreau's environmentalist disposition and philosophical convictions asserted themselves even as he reduced the land to measurable terms and acted as an agent for bringing it under proprietary control. He also describes in detail Thoreau's 1846 survey of Walden Pond. By identifying the origins of Walden in--of all places--surveying data, Chura re-creates a previously lost supporting manuscript of this American classic .

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography

224 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

How do we reconcile the matters of consequence in our everyday lives with the needs our soul? Thoreau dealt with this as a surveyor and a transcendentalist. This book discusses how he handled the challenge and how he sometimes failed at it.

[Annie Cheng · Rating 3 out of 5]

finally got through this in time for walden, interesting thoughts on how to reconcile a philosophy of nature’s intrinsic value with a profession dedicated to monetary“appreciation” and demystification of nature as property… but tedious read… 3.5

[Brent Ranalli · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fresh look at Thoreau: how he earned his living as a surveyor and the ambivalence he felt about it--being out in nature and exercising his faculties, but also aiding and abetting enclosure and deforestation. Chura sheds light on the origins of Walden, the affinity Thoreau had for and inspiration he took from John Brown, and the way the craft and moral hazards of surveying pervaded nearly all of Thoreau's literary output. More than your father's literary studies: Chura takes us on a tour of the instruments Thoreau used to ply his trade (housed at the Concord Library), and explains (accessibly to a non-specialist) some of the mathematics and astronomy and engineering principles involved.

[Alasdair Craig · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found it a bit of a chore to get through. Fairly interesting, but I think you need to approach it more as a Thoreau enthusiast rather than a land surveying enthusiast to fully appreciate it.

[Alan Rohwer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was drawn to this book to learn of Thoreau and his work as a surveyor. I had special interest in the techniques Henry used in his surveying work and the book describes them well. I undertook to draft up the original map of Walden Pond from the field notes the author had reconstructed from the draft map. I found this a worthwhile exercise which gave me a greater sense of the surveying work itself. I also liked the descriptions of Henry’s finding true north from his sighting of Polaris. Chura does an excellent job of putting Henry’s surveying into historical and philosophical context – relating Henry’s efforts to the perception of surveyors, the advent of the great Coast Survey, then underway, and the relation of Henry to John Brown & his role as a surveyor. The conflicts Henry must have felt in performing the surveying work, and its part in the partitioning of land and change in the landscape are also presented. This book deals with Henry and his surveying on a multiple of levels in a very scholarly manner.