Walden was the second and final of Thoreau's books published during his lifetime. He continued to lecture in the mid- to late-1850s and to prepare pieces for magazine publication. The publication of "Chesuncook" in Atlantic Monthly, which was aimed at an educated general audience, indicated the degree to the publication of Walden had elevated Thoreau's status as an author.
Thoreau prepared and revised his manuscript material up until his death. In the last months of his life, he was preparing "Walking," "Autumnal Tints," and "Wild Apples" for publication, but died before they appeared in Atlantic Monthly. They were printed in the June, October, and November issues, respectively. A number of obituaries appeared after the author's death. Walden and A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers were soon reissued, and they were regularly reprinted after that. Sophia Thoreau, along with Emerson and Ellery Channing, undertook the job of editing her brother's unpublished material. Excursions appeared in 1863, followed in rapid succession by The Maine Woods in 1864, Cape Cod and Letters to Various Persons in 1865, and A Yankee in Canada, with Anti-Slavery and Reform Papers in 1866.
In 1894, Houghton, Mifflin (successor to Ticknor and Fields) issued the first collected edition of Thoreau's writings, the eleven-volume Riverside Edition, which included the four volumes edited by Blake from the journals. In 1906, Houghton, Mifflin published the twenty-volume Walden and Manuscript Editions, which included the Journal in fourteen volumes.
The spread of Thoreau's reputation after his death was aided by a handful of early admirers. His Worcester friend and correspondent Harrison Gray Otis Blake kept his memory alive through readings from the author's journals, which he had inherited from Sophia Thoreau; Blake also edited four volumes of selections from the journals. Other devotees of Thoreau included Alfred Winslow Hosmer of Concord and Dr. Samuel Arthur Jones of Ann Arbor, Michigan. Fred Hosmer, a storekeeper and photographer, gathered an important collection of books by and about Thoreau at a time when few others thought to do so. (His collection was given to the Concord Free Public Library in the twentieth century.) Hosmer photographed many Concord places associated with Thoreau and corresponded with others who shared his enthusiasm for the author. Henry Stephens Salt, the English biographer of Thoreau, was one of Hosmer's correspondents. Frank Sanborn, who edited and wrote about Thoreau, wished to be viewed as keeper of the author's reputation. In the long run, however, Sanborn's scholarly carelessness offset the value of his efforts in increasing interest in Thoreau.
