A. Bronson Alcott writes in his journal:
Call on Thoreau and take tea. He is busied about his MSS. and hopes to be out again soon. Has been classifying and arranging his papers by subjects, as if he had a new book in mind. I wish him to compile his Atlas of Concord, for which he has rich material, and the genius; but he must work in his own ways and times, sure to give us something worth waiting for, and surprising, when he shall print a book. With eyes abroad like his Emerson’s, and Hawthorne’s, Concord life and landscapes should yield their contributions to the literature of our times and keep its good fame fresh in the memory, and fair as ever.
(The Journals of Bronson Alcott, 334)
