What is the best translation of Walden?

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Accepted Answer

For most readers, the Yale (Cramer, annotated) translation (2004) of Walden is the best place to start: Walden is dense with allusion and wordplay, and Jeffrey Cramer's fully annotated Yale edition is the one I'd start with — Thoreau's text on the inner half of each page, Cramer's notes on the outer, so you catch what you'd otherwise miss. Award-winning, and it makes a hard book open up. This is where I'd start. For clean authoritative text, consider Princeton (Shanley) (1971). For best for students, consider Norton Critical (1966). For free, consider Free (public domain) (1854).

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