AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED BY JOHN BURROUGHS MENTIONING THOREAU: "I HAVE HAD OTHER BIRDS ALIGHT UPON ME… BUT NEVER A CHICKADEE…"

BURROUGHS, John. Autograph letter signed. West Park, New York, April 22, 1886. Small octavo, one sheet folded into two pages. $700.

Wonderful autograph letter signed by John Burroughs mentioning Thoreau.

The letter reads in full: "West Park NY. April 22d, 86. Dear Sir: That was a pretty little experience you had with the titmouse. The unexpected, you know, always happens. The titmouse is the most unsophisticated of our birds. Apparently it has not yet learned to discriminate man from other animals. Lumbermen in the remote woods have often told me of their alighting upon them while they were eating their lunch & of them picking crumbs out of their hands. Probably no other bird would do it, though the Canada Jay, is at times very familiar. I think you will find some such incidents as you relate in Thoreau's "Maine Woods." I have had other birds alight upon me, when I was motionless, but never a chickadee. Very Sincerely, John Burroughs."

Tape repairs to fold lines. An excellent Burroughs autograph letter with great content.