This year marks the 150th anniversary of Henry David Thoreau’s first publication.

Since 1999, NIU alumni and graduate students have dedicated time to restoring Thoreau’s writings. The project is located at Founders Memorial Library and is headed by Editor in Chief Elizabeth Witherall.

The project, the only one in the United States, started in 1966 at the State University of New York at Geneseo. After several location transfers, it eventually was moved from the University of California-Santa Barbara to NIU.

It became clear over the years as English departments began to study American literature that it needed editing because of the constant reprinting of the works, Witherall said.

“There was an understanding that the texts were not reliable and that people needed to read what the author wrote instead of mistakes,” she said.

The goal of the project is to return to sources as close to Thoreau’s authority as possible – to make the edit the most accurate, Witherall said.

“Since the Center for Thoreau’s Writings is a research institution and not a library, we don’t own any manuscript material because that is too valuable,” Witherall said. “We produce new and carefully edited writings.”

There are 30 volumes of journals and correspondence. Of the 30, 14 already have been published, and 16 are Thoreau’s journals.

All of the texts differ from their predecessors, either because they contain previously unpublished manuscript material or because they correct texts already in the Thoreau canon, Witherall said.