Sophia Elizabeth Thoreau (1819–1876) was an American editor. As the sister of Henry David Thoreau and his close collaborator, she was responsible for the posthumous publication of many of his well-known works. Walden Thoreau

Sophia Thoreau was born in Chelmsford, Massachusetts, on June 24, 1819, the youngest of four children in the Thoreau family. Sophia was an active supporter of abolitionism and various other causes. She was also known as an artist, gardener, naturalist, and teacher. Following the death of her father, John Thoreau, Sophia handled his business interests. After Henry David Thoreau died in 1862, Sophia Thoreau served as the primary editor of his posthumously published works, '' Excursions'' (1863), ''The Maine Woods'' (1864), ''Cape Cod'' (1865), and ''

A Yankee in Canada ''A Yankee in Canada, with Anti-Slavery and Reform Papers'' is an anthology of works by Henry David Thoreau, edited by his sister Sophia Thoreau and his friends William Ellery Channing and Ralph Waldo Emerson. It was published in 1866, after Thore ...

'' (1866). She also chose the editor for the publication of Thoreau's journal. Sophia Thoreau's influence on the posthumous publication of Henry David Thoreau's work was often overlooked and attributed instead to

Ralph Waldo Emerson Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803April 27, 1882), who went by his middle name Waldo, was an American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, abolitionist, and poet who led the transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. He was seen as a cham ...

and William Ellery Channing. Sophia Thoreau died in Bangor, Maine, on October 7, 1876. A daguerreotype of Sophia Thoreau dating to 1855 has been held by the Concord Museum since 2017.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thoreau, Sophia Henry David Thoreau 1819 births 1876 deaths 19th-century American women artists People from Chelmsford, Massachusetts American book editors Women print editors Women naturalists American naturalists American abolitionists