The Other Hermit of Thoreaus Walden Pond

I didnt realize there was another hermit of Walden Pond! is the usual response author-historian Terry Barkley receives when he tells someone the subject of his new book. Henry David Thoreaus experiment there from 1845-1847 is widely known and immortalized in his classic Walden; or, Life in the Woods (1854). However, stresses Barkley, Neither the world nor even most avid Thoreauvians know about Edmond Hothams six-months at Walden Pond during the winter of 1868-1869, the fascinating story of which is detailed in The Other Hermit of Thoreaus Walden Pond: The Sojourn of Edmond Stuart Hotham. A generation later and nearly seven years after Henry Thoreau died in 1862 of tuberculosis in Concord, Massachusetts, a young theological student from New York City arrived in Concord in November 1868. Edmond Hotham had never been there, but he immediately began preparations to pursue the wild life. He met transcendentalist poet (William) Ellery Channing, a former close friend of Thoreaus who had suggested to Thoreau that he build his cabin at Walden Pond. It was Channing who likely introduced Hotham to transcendentalist leader Ralph Waldo Emerson (the Sage of Concord), and Emerson who gave Hotham permission, like Thoreau before him, to build his Earth-cabin on the poets property at Walden Pond. Edmond Hothams sojourn at Walden Pond was the first and only time someone traveled to Walden Pond to emulate Thoreaus experiment in simplicity. Hotham made his way to Walden Pond to pursue some private business while he was preparing for Christian ministry and stateside missionary work. He built his shanty on the ponds shore about 100 yards in front of Thoreaus, where he attempted to out-economize and out-simplify Thoreau. Hothams sojourn as the second hermit at Walden Pond exemplified the growing adulation of Henry David Thoreau and his literary work. Author Terry Barkley has gleaned archival sources, vital records, period newspaper accounts, and census rolls for everything that is known about Edmond Hotham.The Other Hermit of Thoreaus Walden Pond is the first book-length treatise on Hotham, half of which is wholly new material. It far supersedes the late Kenneth Walter Camerons 1962 article on Hotham, which until now was the most complete study of the man. Barkleys groundbreaking study book is an important addition to the Concord-Walden Pond story and a fascinating read. To quote Thoreau, What is once well done is done forever.