A signed book from Thoreau's library
 
A Greek and English Lexicon; adapted to the Authors Read in the Colleges and Schools of the United States, and to Other Greek Classics
John Pickering
Boston, 1829
 
Second edition. Remboitage in contemporary leather binding of the same book. Concord Library stamp to title page, fore-edge a bit chipped. Pages quite clean, Very Good. 
 
Thoreau’s young ownership signature and his numerous annotations in bold ink.
 
The book was gifted in 1874 by his devoted sister, Sophia, to the Concord Library then de-accessioned in 1906 and purchased by the celebrated collector Stephen H. Wakeman. He was amongst the greatest collectors of all time and the premier Thoreau collector, amassing the largest, most comprehensive assortment of HDT items. This book later made its way into the collection of W. Stephen Thomas, the 23rd president of the Thoreau Society. 
 
Thoreau studied the Classics at Harvard, graduating in 1837, and began translating Aeschylus in his journal circa 1839 - his translation of Prometheus Bound would appear in the third installment of The Dial in 1843. Thoreau used this dictionary heavily - his lengthy annotations appear on 16 pages. He was a lifelong deep admirer of ancient Greek literature, and he routinely wrote about this admiration throughout his books and journals - including in Walden, where he also mentions having The Iliad with him at the cabin. It’s extremely likely that this dictionary was also there.
 
Nice copies of HDT's books and even fragments of his manuscript leaves are often available, but items of this intimate gravity are genuinely scarce. This is a crown jewel piece for any literature collection.
 
Ref:
 
A New Checklist of the Books in Henry David Thoreau's Library, Harding
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[signed, literature, history]