Autograph manuscript of a long passage from his first book, Cape Cod, 1 page, 8vo, (No date, but entered into Thoreau's journal on July 12, 1851, the author's thirty-fourth birthday) by THOREAU, Henry David

A lovely and characteristic passage, in fine condition, handsomely framed and glazed. The passage reads in part: "I hear now from this remote hill a human voice, some laborer singing after his day's toil (which I do not often hear) [this parenthetical passage is crossed out]. Loud it must be, for it is far away. Methinks, I should know it for a civilized man, some strains have the melody of an instrument. And now I hear the sound of a bugle at a still greater distance, reminding me of poetic wars. . . . I rarely walk by moonlight without hearing some strain from a flute or horn or clarinet, or a human voice. How sweet & encouraging the sound of some artificial music heard from the midst of woods or from the top of a hill at night, borne on the breeze, from some distant farm house. That is a civilization one can endure - worth having. . . .". A lovely and characteristic passage, in fine condition, handsomely framed and glazed.