Wild Apples

Thoreau's "Wild Apples" first appeared in The Atlantic Monthly in November of 1862. The story begins with a short history of the apple tree, tracing its path from ancient Greece to America. Thoreau saw the apple as a perfect mirror of man, and eloquently lamented where they were both heading. Though his words were written more than 150 years ago, they live on today as a reminder of the need to preserve what is wild. Thoreau wrote, "our wild apple is wild only like myself, perchance, who belong not to the aboriginal race here, but have strayed into the woods from the cultivated stock." This short work is part of Applewood's "American Roots" series, tactile mementos of American passions by some of America's most famous writers and thinkers.