The Formative Years, 1822–1852

Published 1977
The volume begins with a short biography of Olmsted and a biographical directory of the friends and relatives who played leading roles in his early life. His letters show the skill in observation that made his later travel books so effective, and provide a vivid picture of coming of age in New England in the 1840s. Included are fascinating letters written during a voyage in the China Trade in 1842–43, and accounts of the trip to the British Isles in 1850 that he later described in his first book, Walks and Talks of an American Farmer in England.