Nathaniel Hawthorne Popular Books

Nathaniel Hawthorne Biography & Facts

Nathaniel Hawthorne (born Nathaniel Hathorne; July 4, 1804 – May 19, 1864) was an American novelist and short story writer. His works often focus on history, morality, and religion. He was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, from a family long associated with that town. Hawthorne entered Bowdoin College in 1821, was elected to Phi Beta Kappa in 1824, and graduated in 1825. He published his first work in 1828, the novel Fanshawe; he later tried to suppress it, feeling that it was not equal to the standard of his later work. He published several short stories in periodicals, which he collected in 1837 as Twice-Told Tales. The following year, he became engaged to Sophia Peabody. He worked at the Boston Custom House and joined Brook Farm, a transcendentalist community, before marrying Peabody in 1842. The couple moved to The Old Manse in Concord, Massachusetts, later moving to Salem, the Berkshires, then to The Wayside in Concord. The Scarlet Letter was published in 1850, followed by a succession of other novels. A political appointment as consul took Hawthorne and family to Europe before their return to Concord in 1860. Hawthorne died on May 19, 1864. Much of Hawthorne's writing centers on New England, many works featuring moral metaphors with an anti-Puritan inspiration. His fiction works are considered part of the Romantic movement and, more specifically, dark romanticism. His themes often center on the inherent evil and sin of humanity, and his works often have moral messages and deep psychological complexity. His published works include novels, short stories, and a biography of his college friend Franklin Pierce, written for his 1852 campaign for President of the United States, which Pierce won, becoming the 14th president. Biography Early life Nathaniel Hathorne, as his name was originally spelled, was born on July 4, 1804, in Salem, Massachusetts; his birthplace is preserved and open to the public. His great-great-great-grandfather, William Hathorne, was a Puritan and the first of the family to emigrate from England. He settled in Dorchester, Massachusetts, before moving to Salem. There he became an important member of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and held many political positions, including magistrate and judge, becoming infamous for his harsh sentencing. William's son, Hawthorne's great-great-grandfather, John Hathorne was one of the judges who oversaw the Salem witch trials. Hawthorne probably added the "w" to his surname in his early twenties, shortly after graduating from college, in an effort to dissociate himself from his notorious forebears. Hawthorne's father Nathaniel Hathorne Sr. was a sea captain who died in 1808 of yellow fever in Dutch Suriname; he had been a member of the East India Marine Society. After his death, his widow moved with young Nathaniel, his older sister Elizabeth, and their younger sister Louisa to live with relatives named the Mannings in Salem, where they lived for 10 years. Young Hawthorne was hit on the leg while playing "bat and ball" on November 10, 1813, and he became lame and bedridden for a year, though several physicians could find nothing wrong with him. In the summer of 1816, the family lived as boarders with farmers before moving to a home recently built specifically for them by Hawthorne's uncles Richard and Robert Manning in Raymond, Maine, near Sebago Lake. Years later, Hawthorne looked back at his time in Maine fondly: "Those were delightful days, for that part of the country was wild then, with only scattered clearings, and nine tenths of it primeval woods." In 1819, he was sent back to Salem for school and soon complained of homesickness and being too far from his mother and sisters. He distributed seven issues of The Spectator to his family in August and September 1820 for fun. The homemade newspaper was written by hand and included essays, poems, and news featuring the young author's adolescent humor. Hawthorne's uncle Robert Manning insisted that the boy attend college, despite Hawthorne's protests. With the financial support of his uncle, Hawthorne was sent to Bowdoin College in 1821, partly because of family connections in the area, and also because of its relatively inexpensive tuition rate. Hawthorne met future president Franklin Pierce on the way to Bowdoin, at the stage stop in Portland, and the two became fast friends. Once at the school, he also met future poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, future congressman Jonathan Cilley, and future naval reformer Horatio Bridge. He graduated with the class of 1825, and later described his college experience to Richard Henry Stoddard: I was educated (as the phrase is) at Bowdoin College. I was an idle student, negligent of college rules and the Procrustean details of academic life, rather choosing to nurse my own fancies than to dig into Greek roots and be numbered among the learned Thebans. Early career Hawthorne's first published work, Fanshawe: A Tale, based on his experiences at Bowdoin College, appeared anonymously in October 1828, printed at the author's own expense of $100. Although it received generally positive reviews, it did not sell well. He published several minor pieces in the Salem Gazette.In 1836, Hawthorne served as the editor of the American Magazine of Useful and Entertaining Knowledge. At the time, he boarded with poet Thomas Green Fessenden on Hancock Street in Beacon Hill in Boston. He was offered an appointment as weigher and gauger at the Boston Custom House at a salary of $1,500 a year, which he accepted on January 17, 1839. During his time there, he rented a room from George Stillman Hillard, business partner of Charles Sumner. Hawthorne wrote in the comparative obscurity of what he called his "owl's nest" in the family home. As he looked back on this period of his life, he wrote: "I have not lived, but only dreamed about living." He contributed short stories to various magazines and annuals, including "Young Goodman Brown" and "The Minister's Black Veil", though none drew major attention to him. Horatio Bridge offered to cover the risk of collecting these stories in the spring of 1837 into the volume Twice-Told Tales, which made Hawthorne known locally. Marriage and family While at Bowdoin, Hawthorne wagered a bottle of Madeira wine with his friend Jonathan Cilley that Cilley would get married before Hawthorne did. By 1836, he had won the bet, but he did not remain a bachelor for life. He had public flirtations with Mary Silsbee and Elizabeth Peabody, then he began pursuing Peabody's sister, the illustrator and transcendentalist Sophia Peabody. He joined the transcendentalist Utopian community at Brook Farm in 1841, not because he agreed with the experiment but because it helped him save money to marry Sophia. He paid a $1,000 deposit and was put in charge of shoveling the hill of manure referred to as "the Gold Mine". He left later that year, though his Brook Farm adventure became an inspiration for his novel The Blithedale Romance. Ha.... Discover the Nathaniel Hawthorne popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Nathaniel Hawthorne books.

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  • Collected Poems of Nathaniel Hawthorne synopsis, comments

    Collected Poems of Nathaniel Hawthorne

    Nathaniel Hawthorne

    This carefully crafted ebook: “Collected Poems of Nathaniel Hawthorne” is formatted for your eReader with a functional and detailed table of contents.American novelist and short st...

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    Nathaniel Hawthorne

    Nathaniel Hawthorne

    With centuries of literature, it's inevitable that some will fall through the cracks. We hunt down public domain works and restore them so they're not lost to the world. Who are w...

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    Nathaniel Hawthorne

    George Edward Woodberry

    Nathaniel Hawthorne George Edward Woodberry, american literary critic and poet (18551930) This ebook presents «Nathaniel Hawthorne», from George Edward Woodberry. A dynamic table o...

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    Nathaniel Hawthorne

    Shmoop

    "Dive deep into the story of Nathaniel Hawthorne's life anywhere you go: on a plane, on a mountain, in a canoe, under a tree. Or grab a flashlight and read Shmoop under the covers....

  • The Scarlet Letter synopsis, comments

    The Scarlet Letter

    Nathaniel Hawthorne

    Hailed by Henry James as "the finest piece of imaginative writing yet put forth in the country," Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter reaches to our nation's ...

  • 7 best short stories by Nathaniel Hawthorne synopsis, comments

    7 best short stories by Nathaniel Hawthorne

    Nathaniel Hawthorne & August Nemo

    Nathaniel Hawthorne was a celebrated nineteenth century American literary figure who penned numerous critically acclaimed novels and short stories. Hawthorne's writings were mo...

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    American Bloomsbury

    Susan Cheever

    Even the most devoted readers of nineteenthcentury American literature often assume that the men and women behind the masterpieces were as dull and staid as the era's static daguer...

  • Complete Stories and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe synopsis, comments

    Complete Stories and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe

    Edgar Allan Poe

    This single volume brings together all of Poe's stories and poems, and illuminates the diverse and multifaceted genius of one of the greatest and most influential figures in Amer...

  • Nathaniel Hawthorne synopsis, comments

    Nathaniel Hawthorne

    Hattie Tyng Griswold

    Nathaniel Hawthorne  (July 4, 1804 – May 19, 1864) was an American novelist, dark romantic, and short story writer.Hattie Tyng Griswold (1842 1909) was a 19thcentury American...

  • The Essential Nathaniel Hawthorne synopsis, comments

    The Essential Nathaniel Hawthorne

    Nathaniel Hawthorne

    Five great works about sin, redemption, and human passion by a masterful nineteenthcentury American novelist. Including both novels and short story collections, this volume showcas...

  • Four Classic American Novels synopsis, comments

    Four Classic American Novels

    Nathaniel Hawthorne, Mark Twain, Stephen Crane, Herman Melville & Sandra Newman

    Shining examples of American literature at its best, these four novels explore timeless themesadventure, war, sex, and moralitythrough compelling narratives. An adulteress, a runaw...

  • Delphi Complete Works of Nathaniel Hawthorne synopsis, comments

    Delphi Complete Works of Nathaniel Hawthorne

    Nathaniel Hawthorne

    One of the greatest fiction writers of American literature, Nathaniel Hawthorne is the master of the allegorical and symbolic tale. His celebrated novels, including ‘The Scarlet Le...

  • Twice Told Tail synopsis, comments

    Twice Told Tail

    Ali Brandon

    The New York Times bestselling author of Plot Boiler takes us back to Pettistone’s Fine Books, where Hamlet the cat isn’t the only shadowy figure lurking around the Brooklyn browns...

  • Nathaniel Hawthorne synopsis, comments

    Nathaniel Hawthorne

    George Edward. Woodberry

    This volume contains a biographical sketch of the life of Nathaniel Hawthorne.

  • Works of Nathaniel Hawthorne synopsis, comments

    Works of Nathaniel Hawthorne

    Nathaniel Hawthorne

    This collection was designed for optimal navigation on iPad and other electronic devices. It is indexed alphabetically, chronologically and by category, making it easier to access...

  • Collected Poetry of Nathaniel Hawthorne synopsis, comments

    Collected Poetry of Nathaniel Hawthorne

    Nathaniel Hawthorne

    This carefully crafted ebook: "Collected Poetry of Nathaniel Hawthorne" is formatted for your eReader with a functional and detailed table of contents. American novelist an...

  • The Daemon Knows synopsis, comments

    The Daemon Knows

    Harold Bloom

    NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER  NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE WASHINGTON POST AND KIRKUS REVIEWSHailed as “the indispensable critic” by The New York Review of Book...

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    Nathaniel Hawthorne

    Daniel Coenn

    This book is a collection of 152 fundamental quotes and aphorisms of Nathaniel Hawthorne: "Easy reading is damn hard writing." "I have not lived, but only dreamed about living." "...

  • Nathaniel Hawthorne synopsis, comments

    Nathaniel Hawthorne

    George Woodberry

    According to Wikipedia: "George Edward Woodberry, Litt. D., LL. D. (May 12, 1855–January 2, 1930) was an American literary critic and poet… For twelve years, Woodberry was an almos...

  • Hawthorne in Concord synopsis, comments

    Hawthorne in Concord

    Philip Mcfarland

    A richly textured account of the writer’s three sojourns in New England “illuminates Hawthorne’s art and the intellectual ferment originating in that small, bucolic town” (Publishe...

  • The Scarlet Letter synopsis, comments

    The Scarlet Letter

    Nathaniel Hawthorne, Brenda Wineapple & Regina Barreca

    This tragic novel of sin and redemption is Hawthorne's masterpiece of American fiction.An ardent young woman, her cowardly lover, and her aging vengeful husbandthese are the centra...

  • The House of Hawthorne synopsis, comments

    The House of Hawthorne

    Erika Robuck

    From the bestselling author of Hemingway’s Girl comes a novel that explores the unlikely marriage between celebrated novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne and accomplished artist Sophia Pea...

  • The Celestial Railroad and Other Stories synopsis, comments

    The Celestial Railroad and Other Stories

    Nathaniel Hawthorne & Ross C. Murfin

    Of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s insight into the Puritan’s simultaneous need for fulfillment and selfdestruction, D. H. Lawrence wrote, “Nathaniel knew disagreeable things in his inner so...

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    Nathaniel Hawthorne

    George Edward Woodbury

    This book is a biography of the life of Nathaniel Hawthorne.

  • Nathaniel Hawthorne synopsis, comments

    Nathaniel Hawthorne

    George Edward Woodberry

    This book is perfectly adapted for a pleasant reading on a digital reader.

  • The Complete Novels of Nathaniel Hawthorne - All 8 Books in One Edition synopsis, comments

    The Complete Novels of Nathaniel Hawthorne - All 8 Books in One Edition

    Nathaniel Hawthorne

    Musaicum Books presents to you this carefully created volume of "The Complete Novels of Nathaniel Hawthorne All 8 Books in One Edition". This ebook has been designed and f...

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    Nathaniel Hawthorne

    George E. Woodberry

    Nathaniel Hawthorne, by George E. Woodberry, is one in a series of American Men of Letters. Of its kind it is good. Based on original researches and written by a scholar, it is nei...

  • Nathaniel Hawthorne synopsis, comments

    Nathaniel Hawthorne

    George Edward Woodberry

    The narrative of Hawthorne's life has been partly told in the autobiographical passages of his writings which he himself addressed to his readers from time to time, and in the seri...

  • Hawthorne synopsis, comments

    Hawthorne

    Brenda Wineapple

    Handsome, reserved, almost frighteningly aloof until he was approached, then playful, cordial, Nathaniel Hawthorne was as mercurial and doubleedged as his writing. “Deep as Dante,”...

  • Nathaniel Hawthorne synopsis, comments

    Nathaniel Hawthorne

    Annie Fields

    This book contains a biography of the life of Nathaniel Hawthorne.