Other factors in addition to perceptions of Thoreau's personality — among them the realities of American literary publishing in the nineteenth century, the efforts of particular admirers, and changing cultural, political, and social values — have also affected the course of his reputation. His contemporary literary reputation began with the publication between 1840 and 1844 of some of his poetry, essays, and translations in the Transcendentalist periodical The Dial. Margaret Fuller edited The Dial from its inception until the spring of 1842, when Emerson took over from her. Frank in her criticism of what she did not like, Fuller did not accept all that Thoreau submitted to her. Emerson, then still Thoreau's literary advocate, published many more of Thoreau's pieces than had his predecessor. Emerson admired Thoreau's poetry as verse that "pleased, if not by beauty of particular lines, yet by the honest truth," as he wrote in his journal in November of 1842. Yet he also recognized the stylistic imperfection of Thoreau's poems: "Their fault is, that the gold does not yet flow pure, but is drossy and crude. The thyme and marjoram are not yet made into honey. . . ." Publication in The Dial identified Thoreau as a member of the Transcendental circle. However, it did not do much to establish a reputation beyond those directly involved with the magazine. The esoteric Dial had a very limited circulation.
Thoreau reached a broader audience through the more popular magazines that proliferated during the nineteenth century. Titles directed at the general reader — such as Godey's, Graham's, Harper's Monthly, Harper's Weekly, Knickerbocker, and The United States Magazine and Democratic Review — gave considerable exposure to the work of many writers, Thoreau included. In 1843, Thoreau published "A Walk to Wachusett" in the Boston Miscellany and two pieces in The United States Magazine and Democratic Review. His article "Thomas Carlyle and His Works" was published in Graham's Magazine in 1847. Having delivered lyceum lectures based on his travels to various places, Thoreau knew that the popular appeal of such material was far greater than that of more abstract subjects. He consequently adapted his experience in the lecture hall to the literary world and submitted travel pieces to periodicals likely to publish them. His "Ktaadn and the Maine Woods" (initially presented in lecture form) appeared in The Union Magazine in 1848. Horace Greeley of the New York Tribune, whom Thoreau had met in New York in 1843, had taken a special interest in him and helped Thoreau to find a publisher for the piece. "Excursions to Canada" appeared in Putnam's Monthly Magazine in 1853, "Cape Cod" in Putnam's in 1855, and "Chesuncook" in Atlantic Monthly in 1858. Although the appearance of these pieces did not create great demand for Thoreau's work, the general magazines provided a venue that allowed him to write with reasonable expectation of seeing at least some of his material brought before an audience.
