Nathaniel Hawthorne

Nathaniel Hawthorne was already a man of forty-six, and a tale writer of some twenty-four years' standing, when "The Scarlet Letter" appeared.

Nathanial Hawthorne's family history goes back to 1688 with Major William Hathorne. Next came John Hathorne ,one of the main judges in the Witch Trials who condemned many people (mostly women) of witchcraft.

He was born at Salem, Mass., on July 4th, 1804, son of a sea-captain. He led there a shy and rather sombre life; of few artistic encouragements, yet not wholly uncongenial, his moody, intensely meditative temperament being considered. Its colours and shadows are marvelously reflected in his "Twice-Told Tales" and other short stories, the product of his first literary period. Even his college days at Bowdoin did not quite break through his acquired and inherited reserve; but beneath it all, his faculty of divining men and women was exercised with almost uncanny prescience and subtlety.

In 1830 when he was 26, Nathanial added a "w" to his name due to his shame of his family's history. By 1849 Nathanial wrote "Young Goodman Brown", "Story Teller", "The Hollow of the Three Hills", and "The Scarlet Letter". He was well educated by Joseph Worcester, The Samuel Archer's School, and Benjamin Oliver. He lived with his mother for a lot of his life and always wanted better for his family.

"The Scarlet Letter," which explains as much of this unique imaginative art, as is to be gathered from reading his highest single achievement, yet needs to be ranged with his other writings, early and late, to have its last effect. In the year that saw it published, he began "The House of the Seven Gables," a later romance or prose-tragedy of the Puritan-American community as he had himself known it - defrauded of art and the joy of life, "starving for symbols" as Emerson has it.

Nathaniel Hawthorne died in his sleep at the age of 60 in Plymouth, New Hampshire, on May 18th, 1864 while on a trip with Franklin Pierce.

Hathorne/Hawthorne Family History

• 1688 - Salem, Mass: Major William Hathorne carries out whipping of Hester Craford.
• 1692 - Salem, Mass: John Hathorne serves in Witch Trials
• 1804 - Salem, Mass: July 4 27 Union St. Nathanial Hathorne is born
• 1809 - Salem, Mass: Nathanial, his mother, and his sisters move in with the Mannings
• 1813 - Salem, Mass: Nathanial taught in his by Joseph Worcester.
• 1819 - Salem, Mass: Nathanial goes to Samuel Archer's School
• 1820 - Salem, Mass: Nathanial tutored by Benjamin Oliver
• 1825 - Salem, Mass: Nathanial still lives with family and starts to write
• 1830 - Salem, Mass: Nathanial publishes "The Hollow of the Three Hills" in Salem Gazette and adds "w" into his name.
• 1834 - Salem, Mass: Story Teller, a group of stories, is finished
• 1835 - Salem, Mass: In New-England Magazine Nathanial publishes "Young Goodman Brown"
• 1846 - Salem, Mass: Becomes Surveyor of Port in Custom House and has a baby, on June 22, which he names Julian
• 1847 - Salem, Mass: Nathanial takes family to live on Mall St.
• 1849 - Salem, Mass: Nathanial fired as Surveyor of Port and starts writing "The Scarlet Letter". His mother dies.
• 1864 - Plymouth, N.H. May 18-19 Nathanial dies in sleep.

Details for all indexed files in this directory:

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Filename	Last Modified	Size	Title
facts	Thu Jun 24 12:45:28 1999	3,025
Filename: facts.txt Permissions: 664 Copyright: Author: Document Type: Text - TXT Source: Scanned by: Checked by: Document ID: Document Revision: Comments:
hawthrn	Mon Mar 22 20:29:20 1999	27,207	Compuserve(c) GIF Formatted Graphic
Filename: hawthrn.gif Permissions: 664 Copyright: Author: Document Type: Graphic - GIF Source: Scanned by: Checked by: Document ID: Document Revision: Comments:
scarlet	Fri Apr 24 14:42:52 1998	498,540	The Scarlet Letter
Filename: scarlet.txt Permissions: 664 Copyright: Public Domain - Copyright Expired Author: Nathaniel Hawthorne Document Type: Text - TXT Source: Source Unknown Scanned by: Checked by: Document ID: Document Revision: Comments: *
seven	Fri Apr 24 14:29:18 1998	615,547	The House of the Seven Gables
Filename: seven.txt Permissions: 664 Copyright: Public Domain - Copyright Expired Author: Nathaniel Hawthorne Document Type: Text - TXT Source: Wiretap Scanned by: Cardinalis Etext Press, C.E.K. Checked by: Document ID: Document Revision: Comments: *
tnglw10	Wed Apr 22 19:40:40 1998	360,701	Tanglewood Tales
Filename: tnglw10.txt Permissions: 664 Copyright: Public Domain - Copyright Expired Author: Nathaniel Hawthorne Document Type: Text - TXT Source: Gutenberg Scanned by: Checked by: Document ID: Document Revision: Comments: *
wmatters	Thu Jun 24 12:18:00 1999	81,092	Chiefly About War Matters
Filename: wmatters.txt Permissions: 664 Copyright: Public Domain - Copyright Expired Author: Nathaniel Hawthorne Document Type: Text - TXT Source: Source Unknown Scanned by: Checked by: Document ID: Document Revision: Comments: *

Updated: Fri Nov 5 01:15:05 1999