The Surveyor and the Saunterer explores the role played by maps and mapping in the writings of Henry David Thoreau. Thoreau was a professional surveyor and he had a deep and intimate knowledge of the history of cartography and of mapping practices. Despite his awareness of the limitations of maps and their ideological bias, Thoreau never stopped using them while writing his texts. How can we understand the link between writing and mapping? This work is based on a thorough archival investigation to locate and identify the maps that Thoreau used and copied during his lifetime. This allows for a careful reading of Thoreau's prose, especially in its most unexpected and unsettling dimensions.