Paradise (to be) Regained

This is an edited test comment.

[Mr. Etzler]

A footnote to the title of Thoreau’s review reads, “The Paradise within the Reach of all Men, without Labor, by Powers of Nature and Machinery. An address to all intelligent Men. In two parts. By J.A. Etzler. Part First. Second English Edition. pp. 55. London, 1842.” Thoreau’s essay is a review of Etzler’s book. (See A Note on the Text.) Thoreau uses his review to respond to Etzler’s promise to “show the means of creating a paradise within ten years” through the development of technology that will allow for a life of leisure “without labor” (quoted by Thoreau in par. 2, below). In Thoreau’s overall critique of Etzler’s project to create a future of paradise and leisure, he is very skeptical of the improvements to human life that Etzler suggests.