Revisions to Henry David Thoreau's manuscript of Walden

[Note: VS about ants] I have had formerly seen the

raccoon in the woods behind where my my

house stands and probably still hear their

winnering at night. in the hollow trees

[Note: "from time to time" is written in pencil above castel'd in a hollow tree ]

"found in my neighborhood castel'd in an aged hollow tree;"" "castel'd in a hollow tree."

In version “A”, Thoreau makes a general observation about the racoons behind this house, living in hollow trees, heard but rarely seen. By noting how these animals go about their lives “castel’d” in the woods, out of sight and indifferent to human presence, he sets up his argument that the natural world operates on its own terms. This early observation becomes evidence for his broader claim that animals inhabit a parallel world beside ours, fully alive and meaningful even when we are not watching.The phrase "castlled in the hollow of an aged tree;" comes from a republication of William Wood's New England Prospect, a guidebook offering one of the most detailed accounts of the Massachusetts area. Because the quote was written and rewritten , its possible he quoted the line and later on went back into the text to correct himself.

It is remarkable how much life many creatures

lives wild and free, though

secret in the woods, known only

to the hunter only

and still sustains themselves in the neighborhood of towns

Later, in version “E” Thoreau strengthens his claim that animals live in a parallel world by shifting from a single raccoon sighting to a broader reflection on “how many creatures live wild and free though secret in the woods.” This added generalization makes the raccoon just one example of a much larger pattern, that animals sustain themselves right beside human towns while remaining mostly unseen. By emphasizing that these creatures are “known only to the hunter” and “secret,” the revision highlights the idea that the natural world continues its own hidden life alongside ours, operating on terms we rarely witness.

It is remarkable how many

many creatures live wild and

free, though secret in the

woods, and still sustain them-

selves in the neighborhood of towns

suspected only by hunters only

How retired the otter manages to live here. He grows to be four feet, as big as a

small boy, perhaps without any human being getting a glimpse of him.

[Note: "human being getting a glimpse of him" has been written in pencil under where he writes the revision in ink ]

I had formerly seen saw the raccoon [Note: "saw" added in pencil where it appears in ink]

in the woods behind where my house

is built, and probably still heard

their winnering at night.

Thoreau’s smaller revisions gradually build toward the fully developed passage, where his idea becomes philosophical. In “A”, the earliest version notes a raccoon living near his house, a small observation that hints at animals existing just beyond human sight. The next revision in version “E” Thoreau broadens this into a general claim about “many creatures” living “wild and free though secret,” suggesting a hidden community of animals alongside towns. In the final version, Thoreau strengthens this idea by adding the otter, an animal that can grow “as big as a small boy” without anyone ever seeing it. Together, these revisions move from a single example to a broader pattern and finally to a clear argument that animals inhabit a parallel world, one that is active, self‑sustaining, and largely invisible to the humans living beside them.