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Primary sourcePhotograph18 June 1856

Daguerreotype Portrait of Henry David Thoreau

Benjamin D. Maxham · 18 June 1856

The 1856 Maxham daguerreotype, the best-known photographic likeness of Thoreau made during his lifetime.

This daguerreotype is the most famous surviving photographic likeness of Thoreau, taken during his lifetime.

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Sepia-toned black-and-white portrait of a bearded man with tousled dark hair, wearing a dark jacket, bow tie, and white collar, against a plain gray-brown background. He gazes directly at the camera with a serious expression.
Benjamin D. Maxham, daguerreotype portrait of Henry David Thoreau, 18 June 1856, Worcester, Massachusetts.

About this source

What it is

This ninth-plate daguerreotype portrait of Henry David Thoreau was taken by photographer Benjamin D. Maxham in Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1856. Thoreau sat for three such images after being asked for a likeness by an admirer, Calvin R. Greene, who had been corresponding with him since early that year.

Why it matters

Thoreau was reluctant to have his portrait made, telling Greene he was "not worth seeing personally." The sitting shows how admirers sought images of writers they respected, and the surviving prints — one kept by friends in Worcester, one sent to Greene — reveal how Thoreau's image circulated among a small circle after Walden had made him known.

Look closer

  • What does Thoreau's reluctance to be photographed suggest about how he saw himself versus his writing?
  • Why might an admirer have wanted a photograph rather than relying only on Thoreau's books?
  • What can and can't a single posed photograph tell us about a person?

This photograph is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Henry David Thoreau on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Title page of the 1854 first edition of Walden; or, Life in the Woods by Henry D. Thoreau, with an engraving of a small cabin among pine and deciduous trees, an epigraph, and the publisher Ticknor and Fields, Boston.Book

Primary source

Walden

Henry David Thoreau · 1854

Scanned printed page 189 from 1849 Aesthetic Papers, headed 'Art. X. Resistance to Civil Government' with running head 'Resistance to Civil Government.' Body text is an essay opening: 'I heartily accept the motto, That government is best which governs least.' The page is dense serif text in two columns of prose, with no images.Book

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Civil Disobedience

Henry David Thoreau · 1849

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Slavery in Massachusetts

Henry David Thoreau · 4 July 1854

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A Plea for Captain John Brown

Henry David Thoreau · 30 October 1859

Handwritten manuscript page in brown ink on aged paper, with many crossed-out words and interlineations. Text includes lines about clothes, a new suit, a snake casting its slough, and a caterpillar. Marginal notes appear at the left edge.Document

Primary source

Walden Manuscript Draft

Henry David Thoreau · 1846–1854

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