Nathaniel Hawthorne. Works. There have been eighteen editions of Hawthorne’s Collected Works between 1871 and 1904 in from 6 to 18 vols. These appeared in book form originally as follows: Fanshawe, 1828; Twice-Told Tales, 1837; Grandfather’s Chair, 1841; Famous Old People, 1841; Biographical Stories for Children, 1842; Mosses from an Old Manse, 1846; The Scarlet Letter, 1850; True Stories, 1851; The House of the Seven Gables, 1851; A Wonder Book, 1851; The Blithedale Romance, 1852; Tanglewood Tales, 1853; The Marble Faun, 1860; Our Old Home, 1863; American Notebooks, 1868; English Notebooks, 1870; French and Italian Notebooks, 1871; Septimius Felton, 1871; The Dolliver Romance, 1876; Doctor Grimshawe’s Secret, 1883.

Bibliography

A volume compiled by Nina E. Browne. 1905. Also Cambridge History of American Literature, Vol. II, pp. 415–424.

Biography and Criticism

Bridge, Horatio. Personal Recollections of Nathaniel Hawthorne. 1893. (Based on three papers in Harper’s Magazine, January-March, 1892.)

Brownell, W. C. American Prose Masters. 1909.

Conway, M. D. Life of Nathaniel Hawthorne. 1890.

Erskine, John. Leading American Novelists. 1910. Cambridge History of American Literature, Vol. II, Bk. II, chap. xi.

Fields, J. T. Hawthorne. 1876.

Fields, Mrs. Annie. Nathaniel Hawthorne. 1899.

Hawthorne, Julian. Hawthorne and his Circle. 1903.

Hawthorne, Julian. Nathaniel Hawthorne and his Wife. 1885.

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. American Notebooks.

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. English Notebooks.

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. French and Italian Notebooks.

James, Henry. Nathaniel Hawthorne. 1879. (E.M.L. Ser.)

Lathrop, George P. A Study of Hawthorne. 1876.

Lathrop, Rose Hawthorne. Memories of Hawthorne. 1897.

Ticknor, Caroline. Hawthorne and his Publisher. 1913.

Woodberry, G. E. Nathaniel Hawthorne. 1902. (A.M.L. Ser.)

TOPICS AND PROBLEMS

Read the title essay in “Mosses from an Old Manse” and “The Custom-House” prefatory to “The Scarlet Letter” for Hawthorne’s analysis of his feeling for the Puritan heritage.

With these in mind read “Young Goodman Brown,” "Governor Endicott and the Red Cross,“ and ”The May-Pole of Merry Mount.“

Survey the ”Mosses from an Old Manse" or “Twice-Told Tales” for the proportion of stories which are written against evident New England background.

Identify the passages from “The American Notebooks,” cited on page 243, with the complete works for which they furnished cues.

Read “The House of the Seven Gables” for the light it throws on the history of the Hawthorne family in the earlier generations.

Read any one of the four great romances or the three later ones with reference to the constant recurrence of sin as a theme.

Compare this treatment of sin in Hawthorne with the treatment of crime in Poe.

Hawthorne is chiefly interested in individual experience. Read one of his romances for clear evidence of his social consciousness.

Discuss his success in any given story in connecting “a bygone time with the very present that is flitting away from us.”

The use of symbols in the development of his long stories is obvious. How far does he rely upon the symbol in any one of his more effective shorter stories?

Glance over several short stories to see if any can be found in which action is not subordinated to its effect on the character who commits it.

Read a selected chapter or two, such as the earlier ones in “The House of the Seven Gables,” for observation on Hawthorne’s style, particularly on the quiet play of humor in it.